Changes
by Bennirumbazumba
Summary: It began a new Skool Grade for Zim and Dib and right before the first day even starts, Dib got punched by Torque (that miserable human) really bad. And Zim is the only one who's caring for the poor human boy... Anyhow, this incident is the start of their weird friendship and maybe even more... Co-written with EmilyTheKittyCat. Also avaiable on Deviantart. Rated M for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Hiho everyone!**  
**This is a classical ZaDr-rolepaly. It will be fluffy the first time, but maybe there will happening even MOOORE... stuff. Let's see.**

**I'm sorry for any typos, which occurs almost only in my Dib-parts. Because I'm a german guy, English isn't my native tongue, so.. I hope this explains it. Zim is played by EmilyTheKittyCat (DeviantArt) Dib is played by me**

**Enjoy!**

Dib was walking to Skool like every day. But this wasn't a normal one, but the first day of High Skool. So he was kinda excited what will happen. Something told him that there would be quite a big change, a totally new challenge in his life. And this prediction also told him that it would involve Zim; strange... and in a way more than the usual fighting and loathing each other.

Meanwhile, Zim was already at Skool, looking over his new time-table, seeing the miserable Earth lessons he had to endure whilst on this spinning ball of rock. When he takes over, Skool and all it's horrible, germy, idiotic followers will be the first thing to be destroyed... And Dib. Oh, how he hated Dib. Always ruining his plans for world conquest. But maybe, this year would be different.

While Dib was whistling some nonsense melody, he began to muse about Zim. Would he even attend the Skool anymore?'I hope not' he was thinking...or at least that's what he wanna believe, but seriously after a while Dib would surely miss his "interactions" with Zim. Skool was indeed quite boring without that little lizard, who don't have a clue about almost all of the lessons and is mostly just staring in right ahead in class or digging evil glares in Dibs big head.

"Let's see"... Zim muttered to himself whilst starring at the board which had all students' classes and lessons. Science, English, PE then Art. 'What a load of useless knowledge.' Zim thought to himself. 'Now, who will I have to put up with this time?' Keef, M, Number One, Torque, Dib- "Oh no..." Dib... The miserable human... If anyone Zim did not want in his classes, it was him.

Entering the building and heading to his usual locker. He already knew that he would share most of his lessons with Zim. The first one today was Science. Dib was really curious if Zim would be here. And if that's the case, would he look differently? Taller? Different clothing? A more "human" behaviour to adapt more his classmates? Another...voice!?

'Might as well get to class... get another filthy day over with,' Zim thought to himself, walking towards the Science class. The smell of old sneakers, chewing gum and filthy humans could be smelt via his antennae, and he hated it. The usual sight of Torque beating up a smaller kid, the popular kids teasing someone less popular. Ms Bitters threatening a new student about being 'Doomed'. Zim sighed... The usual hell of Earth.

Just as he turned around away from his locker he was the small Irken rounding the corner at the far end of the hallway. Dib instantly mustered Zim's appearance. He was somewhat relieved to see, that he didn't changed at all. Well, maybe he had grown a little taller, but nothing else. Still that omnipotent from on his face, a slightly moving mouth like he was babbling under his breath and cursing all that "filthy hyoomans" around him (he was right in that case; they were pathetic). He and Zim didn't saw each other so much in the summer holidays. Surely Zim was in the underground part his base and planning evil stuff, but nothing bad happened to mankind by now. Still, Dib couldn't help to smirk just a little bit at his thoughts. Zim was still here. In Skool. And probably still trying to take over. Dib was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't saw where he was walking. Right in the direction of the classroom, yes. But also in the path of Zim...

Zim kept walking to the classroom, when another scent reached his antennae, human, but a different, more familiar smell... Dib. Oh well, He'd just ignore that miserable worm if he got annoying, like he always did. Zim remembered back in Elementary school when they worked together to stop Tak with her snack plan... Miserable female, and when him and Dib were turning into baloney. He couldn't help but smile at those memories... Dib was useful for something's...NO, he was a filthy human, and he was nothing compared to the amazingness that was ZIM. Zim quickly forgot those thoughts and carried on walking.

Still too busy with his mind to actually catch his surroundings Dib trotted along the hallway…

After a few moments he bumped into something massive and stopped. He looked up and saw that Torque Smacky turned around and was glaring really annoyed at him and grumbled: "OH man. No you again, you paranormal freak! I'm not in the mood to deal with you ANOTHER year!" And with that he threw his fist right into Dibs belly. He literally flew through the hallway and crashed painfully into his locker. Torque shouted after him: "And don't you DARE coming near me AGAIN! Because I wouldn't be so gentle in this case..." He laughed and strolled away in the class. Meanwhile Dib was cringing painfully on the floor and leaned to the locker while it was hard for him to breath. 'Damn. How could I survive this grade with that bastard? He's getting more brutally every year...'

Suddenly, Zim saw this flash of blue, black and peach zoom past him and smash into a group of lockers. When he looked up, he saw to his shock, that it was in fact Dib. He looked taller, and his hair seemed ever so slightly longer, but most importantly, his head was now bleeding from being hit with such force into the lockers. He should have been happy that Dib got injured, but for some reason, he didn't. He thought it was probably due to it not being him who had caused it. Zim made his way over to the taller teen to see if he was ok, which was weird for Zim, but, for that moment, he was actually WORRIED about Dib.

His eyes closed as waves of pain were washing over his body and threatened to rip his chest Dib suddenly heard rushing, tripling footsteps heading towards him he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head with some effort. It was Zim. 'God, no! He saw it all. Beaten up so badly. And now I'm lying here, cringing on the floor. I bet he just want to make fun of me. That's so humiliating... Please, just let me alone.' Dib thought and suddenly he felt a wet stream along his cheeks. He started crying. In front of Zim! He didn't care about the other pupils, but Zim was his rival, his arch nemesis.

He couldn't be weak around him and not fall so low to CRY in his presence! When Zim arrived at his spot, Dib quickly dropped his head, so very ashamed in this moment and foolishly hoping that Zim won't see him crying. He took a deep (painful) breath before speaking and mumbled: "P-Please...Zim. Just g-go away! I don't- Deep breathe "-want to see you...right stupid...lizard." Man, that was an empty threat.

Zim stared blankly at the human, wondering what to do. Usually in battles that he was trained for, when a soldier was wounded they'd stand straight back up and fight until they either died of blood loss, or defeated the enemy... But now, the Dib-human was sitting here, asking for him to go away, an- wait, was the Dib, Crrrryyying? The Dib-filth never cries, not in front of Zim anyway... Zim looked around to see no-one else caring or having the time to even look at Dib. "Uh... Dib-human? Are you ok?" Zim asked. What did the humans do to people who were crying? He'd seen GIR watch some pretty horrible Earth TV shows about when a female human started crying, a male human knelt down to the others' level. Is that what you do with Earth males too? He didn't know. So, he knelt down anyway, trying to look at Dib's face, but from the looks of things, he didn't want to look up.

Letting his tears now streaming and falling into his lap, Dib heard Zim saying something, but it wasn't an insult, neither an evil laugh. Not even a chuckle. He just asked if Dib was okay. 'Do I look like I am okay?!' he thought and grumbled while gritting his teeth...But wait! It was Zim who's asking that. And it sounded sincere too. 'Why did he ask that? Does he CARE about my well-being? No way! This must be some bad joke again like always. Yeah. That's more like Zim!' Now Dib was getting angry at the Irken. He opened his eyes and tried to spat yell at him:

"It's none...of your business...ZIM! Why do you...even care?! Just leave me alone here...I can handle this...by myself, ya' know! I don't...need your pity, jerk!" And with that he made an attempt to stand up, while using his locker for support. He stood there a few moments; he took a breath when suddenly a sharp pang was shooting through his ribcage, sending him right down to the filthy floor again. "AAAAAAHHH! DAMN! Holy shit, that hurts! That stupid jerk..."

Zim wasn't at all affected by the human's words to try and get him away; instead he just kept thinking about that one question, 'Why do you even care?' To be honest with himself, he didn't know. He should be laughing right now, cheering, for his enemy was now on the germy ground, writhing in pain. But no, he actually wanted to help. Was something wrong with his Pak? Invaders show mercy to NO-ONE! Not even their team members! But now, Zim just blinked, and looked to where Dib was currently holding. His ribcage. That must be where it hurt the most. Weak human bones, could possibly be broken. No wonder, this WAS Torque's doing after all. Zim edged slightly closer. "You stupid human. You need help..." Zim turned his head to an angle to try and think better.

'He is right...' It was hard to admit for Dib. He definitely needed quick help. Breathing was getting harder and his ribs felt like there were burning. Probably several broken ones. But almost worse that the actual pain was the fact, that he would need the help of ZIM! He couldn't stand for long without proper support, let alone walking. And still the Irken seemed to be the only one who cared about him in this moment (or in general). 'Damn...I need his help! There's no way to deny it. But I can't ASK him. I just can't bring myself to do that'. After he struggled some more in his mind about it, he tried to stand up again, both hand on the locker, turned some more to Zim and quickly let himself fall into his arms, just hoping he would be able to take his weight and sustain him, preventing him from falling again on that miserable floor.

Zim's eyes widened a bit when he saw a falling Dib coming towards him '...Oh Irk...' But, he caught him, stumbling a bit admittingly, but still caught him. He quickly put his arms around the boy's torso, trying to keep him upright. He knew he shouldn't be helping a human, WHAT WOULD THE TALLEST SAY!? Thinking about it though... what they don't know won't hurt them. He checked to see if anyone was still around. When he saw no-one was looking, he quickly used his Pak legs to regain his balance and adjust the human so he wasn't putting any un-needed pressure onto any of his ribs. He quickly retracted them, and glanced at the boy. "Now what, human?" Zim grunted, pretty annoyed that he'd have to move the human to get help and considering that the boy was taller than him, made it difficult for Zim to act as a support for him.

Although he hoped to be caught, Dib was still surprised that Zim actually did it and even tried to prevent more pain to his ribs. So he DID care after all... Dib cringed a bit when Zim used his PAK legs but was instantly frozen when he felt two lanky arms draping tightly around his waist. He couldn't help but blushing and that gesture. As The Irken stumbled, he tried to balance his weight a bit. Because Zim was so small, he gently gripped at his shoulders. "Umm...thanks I guess...Zim." Dib closed his eyes again and unintentionally pressed himself to the smaller being just some more. Zim was warm. Being held by him felt oddly relaxing, lessening the pain. But now was no time for him to drift off. Not now... "Need to go...t-to the...Nurse's Office."

Zim went slightly rigid when he felt the human press himself against him. 'Probably just dizziness, stupid human'.

"Nurse's office, right", Zim murmured to himself. That was on the other side of the skool...Great, just great... More time and energy into moving the human. Zim started walking slowly at first, to make sure Dib could actually walk,but once the small steps were out of the way, he starting walking slightly faster. 'The sooner we get there, the sooner I can stop being used as a support' he thought.

Now walking behind Zim on his right side, Dib concentrated on his feet, carefully taking one good step after the other. He also noticed that has stopped crying. He smiled just a tiny bit. But there was still the question: Why? What were Zim's motives? "Zim. Why...are you doing...this. You could have...just...Ouch...let me sit down there...and get to...your class. While...laughing about...my inferior...fragile body. That would be more...like you." But of course Dib was very grateful for Zim's help; he just didn't understand it all. 'Maybe it got something to do with my prediction that morning. That something between us would change' Now deep in thought again, Dib kept stumbling along Zim, holding onto his slim shoulders and shallowly breathing against the Irken's neck.

Zim thought about this for a while, blushing a bit from the feel of Dib's breathe on his neck."Well, for starters, Science is boring, I learnt all I need to know on Irk at the military training, secondly, yes, your body is inferior and stupidly fragile. And third, Zim doesn't know. There may be something wrong with his Pak, but I assure you, I will NEVER help you again, stinking human". Zim carried on staring at the ground, making sure not to harm Dib's ribs any more than they already were. Torque could be quite aggressive with no purpose... Stupid-germy-smelly-humans... Even Irkens didn't attack someone for no reason, only if they feel threatened, annoyed by the thing in question, or are ordered to attack. Heh... Zim smirked. Maybe this is enough of a reason to injure the junk-headed human. Only ZIM could harm HIS enemy, NO-ONE ELSE!

Dib listened to him carefully. Zim was right. First: Science was boring at Skool, at least "Real Science." Maybe because it's too easy and uneventful in Dib's mind. He still loved paranormal stuff and all the uncovered secrets out there... Second: 'Yeah, Zim's a soldier after all. Small, but so full of power sometimes. I quickly learned to not underestimate him'. And last but not least, Dib should have felt inferior and worthless in this moment, getting major help from Zim. But for some reason, he didn't felt any of that. Just gratitude and pain. Odd. All the while Zim was silent, seemed to be in his own thoughts right now. The Nurse's Office soon came into view. Dib was relieved, hoping to get some painkillers and being sent home for a few days for getting better in his comfy bed. 'But if ribs are really broken, I will get an X-Ray scan or something like that...' He didn't liked doctors at all. He let out a tiny whimper at the thought of all that medical instruments and bright lights...

Zim suddenly got snapped out of his thoughts by a whimpering noise coming from the boy next to him. "Is your pain really that bad Dib-human?" Zim asked, not understanding what was wrong. Had he put extra pain on the boy without realizing it? He looked up and saw the Nurse's Office door getting closer with each step. 'Thank Irk' Zim thought.

"Actually no. I'm...just...ummm s-scared...of Doctors... and all their...stuff" Dib hated to admit that, but Zim earned a true answer after all that happened. "So maybe...my idea with...the N-Nurse's Office wasn't...so good." He tried to sound apologetically and hoped he wouldn't upset Zim with that. Dib stopped walking right before the Office door and tensed.

"So what now, human? No nurse, no school." Zim asked, tapping his foot impatiently, looking around the corridors which were now completely void of any life. Unless you counted all the bugs that were eating off the decay of once living plants on shelves by the windows.

Should he really ask Zim that? Should he really risk his safety with that? 'No. Come on, that's stupid, Dib!' He instantly warned himself. But suddenly there was another dose of pure pain shooting in his ribs. His entire chest now felt like it was on fire. Dib cringed, held one hand to his ribcage and gripped desperately with the other on Zim's shoulder. This time he bit back a scream and whimpered pitifully in agony. 'All right, I'll ask him!' "Zim! Could...we go...t-to your base...m-maybe? Surely you...got some...m-medical equipment...there..." Another shot of pain "P-Please?! I need y-your help..."


	2. Chapter 2

Zim stared blankly at the boy, not expecting him to actually ask for more help. But soon, his face turned into a glare. "I may have, but why should I trust YOU in MY base?! It's bad enough that I had to help you now Dib-worm!" Zim sneered. But, the human did look in pain... badly. Maybe he shou- NO! He was a human! A human who was trying to capture him and cut him open! It was a trick, he just knew it.

"I-don't know...really! Maybe I...trust you more than...than this Skool Nurse?!" Did he really said that now? Wow.

"B-But look at...me, Zim. I'm not a threat...to you or your...base at the...moment and I- Ouch! Damn...that ribs are cracked for sure." Dib lost his grip on the others shoulder and slid down the wall, until he was sitting on the floor again. 'I'm just so helpless in this condition', he inwardly whined. Dib was confronted with some long moments of silence from Zim, so he thought the alien would deny any further help. 'Did I really think he would let ME in his base? How foolish of you, Dib'.

"Nevermind...Z-Zim. Just...Just let me calm down...a bit..." Dib mumbled, but wasn't able to finish his sentence as he slowly drifted off into a deep slumber, probably getting unconscious.

Zim panicked slightly when Dib slid down onto the floor once again, but what made him even more shocked, was that he actually seemed to be unconscious. Well... He looked like he was at least. And, the human was right; he wasn't much of a threat in this condition...

Zim checked again to see if anyone was around. No-one. He looked back down at the teen. He looked so helpless. It just didn't feel right leaving him there. And he did say something about the nurse not being trust worthy, or something around those lines. Zim quickly checked around the corners of the corridors, and once he was 100% sure no-one was around, he picked up the taller teen, which was quite a challenge, so Zim brought out his Pak legs and lifted both him, and the human off the ground.

Oh how embarrassing if the Tallest saw him helping a human...

Using his Pak spider legs, he made his way to the exit. He'd just have to stay out of the way of any other humans until he got to his base. In his half-conscious state Dib felt something grabbing him and soon he didn't felt that cold, germy floor anymore. He floated and it felt nice. Actually, he felt safe. Dib didn't want it to end. The previous oh so very intense pain was almost gone now. Dib heard a faint growling and tried to lift his heavy eyelids. It just succeeded halfway and he saw empty streets and houses passing by. 'I'm a fly now? Or falling...' Now he noticed several clear clicking noises and heard that growling again. But Dib decided to not complain and slowly closed his eyes again, smiling calmly...

When they reached Zim's base, GIR wasn't there, 'Thank Irk...' he thought. GIR would probably just make things worse. 'Ok... Place to put the Dib-worm...'

The coach was a total mess, from GIR throwing all his rubbish and rappers onto it from his late night channel surfing sessions. Zim groaned in annoyance. The only other place was his room. He never used it anyway, since sleep was a luxury, not a NEEDED thing. All it did was cut back on conquest planning time. Having put away his Pak legs, he continued to carry the human to his room.

When they got there, Zim laid Dib on the bed, making sure not to injure him anymore than he already was. Then, made his way down to his lab, with the security cameras on, so he could see when Dib was awake again.

Dib felt a soft surface under his back. He hummed contentedly and was soon in a deep dreamless sleep for a few hours... He woke up with a sharp pain in his chest and a throbbing head. Cracking his amber eyes open and staring at the ceiling, Dib first thought he was in his bed again to get some rest from a the fuss at Skool. And Zim. It took him several seconds to check the room he was in, turning his head right and left. 'Wait...this isn't my room! The ceiling is full of weird cables and the walls are...PURPLE?!' The realization came like a flash and Dib quickly sat up, causing a ripping ache at his ribcage again. "ARGHHH!" He gritted his teeth. Now he remembered (almost) everything: Torque, his ribs and... Zim.

Zim had carried him. Zim HELPED him. But why was he suddenly in the Irken's base? Zim would never let a human get inside his house, especially Dib. 'There's something awfully wrong here!' he began to panic. Zim probably got him unconscious somehow. Why should he be here, in a bed, if not for being captured by that lizard!? Dibs panic rose and he ran to the door, ignoring the pain and tried desperately to open the door. But there was just a strange alien mechanism, like a sweeping field for hands. 'Of course it's locked...' he thought and began to bang on the door with all his might while his ribs cried for him with waves of pain to stop that nonsense.

"ZIIIIIM-" Coughing "-let me out...OF HERE! YOU...STUPID...SHORT...SPACE...MONSTER! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" HE cried out his last strength and fell on his knees. "You jerk..." And with that he felt to the side, now lying in front of that damn door.

Zim noticed the human wake up, but carried on looking up on his computer how to heal human wounds. But when he heard the human shout through the speakers, he spun his chair around and stared at the screen. The stupid human had collapsed again. Zim growled, "Stupid ungrateful pig..." He made his way to the door and walked down the hall to the room in which Dib had been resting. He put his hand on the sensor, and the door opened. He looked down at the human. "One, Zim is NOT short. Two, he is also not stupid. Uhh.. Three? Yes. Three, I could have let you see the nurse you ungrateful Earth-smelly", he growled.

Dib just laid there on the metal floor and stared ahead. A few moments passed, and then he was the door sliding open and revealing a pair of all too familiar boots. Shocked, Dibs eyes flew open and he quickly scrambled away from Zim, looking at him all the while until he hit the end of the bed with his back. Narrowing his yes behind glasses, Dib was still upset.

"What have you...done, Zim?! I-I'm not letting...you capture me. You played tricks with me for sure...and knocked me...somehow. B-But I'm done with...your shit now." His cracked ribs weren't important to Dib right now; he just wanted to leave this creepy, alien place. So got up and stood there with wobbling knees in front of Zim and slowly made his way to the door, wanting to shove the Irken away hit him somewhere, if he wanted to fight. Surely, Zim wouldn't let him go so easily, so Dib mentally prepared to stand against the Spaceboy...

Zim just rolled his eyes and grabbed Dib's shoulders and pushed him back, and shoving him onto the bed, so he was sitting down and could rest. "Listen Dib-monkey. If Zim wanted to capture you, you'd be waking up in a test tube with many of your limbs and organs missing, but no, you've woken up in MY ROOM!" Zim snapped. He walked back to the door before turning around to face Dib again. "Oh, and you've got 3 broken ribs, I'm just researching on how to fix them. But, if you know how, that information would be helpful, so I can get you fixed and out of my base."

When Zim grasped him, Dib began to struggle futilely and was soon sitting on the edge of the bed again. He was confused. Zim? Fixing him?

"But...But. That makes...no sense. You're a horrible alien...menace. Fighting me. Not fixing me. SHUT UP! That's just a trick. Must be. I...already feel...so dizzy. Zim is playing...with my mind. Playing mind... tricks. Not true. It's...spinning." Dibs voice was getting quieter. No, ZIM! Don't do this...to me. I-I wanted you to be... content...happy...with me" Dib reached out his hand, grabbing for nothing in the air, searching for something. After a few tries he touched Zim's left hand, who was standing in front of him. Quickly Dib's hand snatched Zim's one and tightly clutched it. "Yes, Zim...I know that..." the human kept mumbling stuff.

Zim was by now majorly confused. First of all the Dib was wanting to leave... now, he was... HOLDING HIS HAND!? Zim looked at Dib's face. He seemed to be dizzy... and his voice was trailing off.

"Uhh.. Dib-worm? Are you feeling ok...?" Zim asked. Invaders weren't used to physical contact that wasn't either harmful or violent, so this was new to Zim. But, it wasn't a bad feeling. In-fact, Zim was quite enjoying this 'Hand-Holding'. But he knew it was only because Dib was confused. Usually it'd be a fist fight.

"Dib... Zim doesn't know what to do. What do I do?" Zim asked, panicking slightly. He knew what to do with a confused and in-pain Irken, which was shoot it in the head, put it out of its misery. But a confused and in-pain human was a completely different thing. He was sure Dib didn't want to be shot in the head... So he just waited for an answer.

Dib was still mumbling some words, but they were too quite now to be heard. Just "Zim..." every so often and a "didn't meant to..." was there. All the while the boy was playing with Zim's claw-like fingers. Dibs other hand followed the first one and also gripped to Zim's for dear life. He totally wasn't in his right mind and seemed to wage a struggle in his big head. Probably with "Zim," because that name was the main sound coming from Dib now. Still he was breathing wheezily and much too flat. His wet eyes were tightly pressed close, like Dib was feared to open them. Finally, after several minutes, there was an almost intelligible phrase heard. "I...can't do that...anymore. ZIM! I wanna...trust you. Like you...and know so much about...you. Need your...help".

'Oh Irk... Now what do I do?' Zim thought to himself. This had never happened between them, or anyone for that matter, before. What did they do in those hospital shows GIR watches...? Well, the doctor comes in, talks to them, brings in a relative or friend, and they sat down next to them, and comforted them. So... All Zim needed to do was comfort him? That was easier said than done. But Zim also kept thinking about what he actually understood from Dib's random mumbling.

Something about trusting him? What was that all about?

After a while of thinking, Zim sat down next to Dib, and starting talking to him. "Dib-worm. You're ok, just remember that. Uhh, Zim will fix you, and things will go back to normal. Ok human?" Zim asked, not really expecting an answer, but feeling like he should at least say something to him.

Still holding Zim hand with both of his, Dib noticed the Irken sitting beside him. So he opened his eyes and looked at Zim directly, mustering his face. "A-Are you... sure, Zim? Because I don't feel okay... right now. And I...yelled at you, didn't I? I got angry and...and-" He looked down and saw their hands tangled nicely together. His face flared up and he quickly released Zim's hand out of his hold. "Oh! S-Sorry...I didn't meant t-to do that… I just...umm...thought it would...be the best thing to grab...close by. And they...were a good support...I-I don't know. I know...you don't like… to be touched..." He frowned and looked away, ashamed and inwardly asking what was wrong with him and his head. 'It's just a cracked rib… no, 3 of them! Bad enough... but still...I feel so foggy' He hold his head and groaned.


	3. Chapter 3

Zim looked down at his lap, holding his own hand now, like Dib had. 'Is this a human sign of anger?' he thought. Since Dib had done this when he was angry. Oh well, he'd have to look it up on his computer later. "Well, I'm not sure about your ribs being ok, but, what Zim meant was that you're safe here. The only danger here is GIR bumping into you, or getting that horrible cheese stuff all over you," he explained. Dib looked confused himself come to think of it. Maybe it was something like a human injury symptom that happened as well as pain?

Or maybe it could be a human headache.

"Should Zim get some painkillers? I'm not sure if humans can take them though, since they are made for Irkens..."

He smiled a bit when Zim mentioned the little robot minion. "That's okay...Zim. I guess...I can handle GIR. I just can...trust you from now on...for being...safe here...w-with you." With those last words, he looked at Zim again, fixating his gaze to his big eyes. He frowned as he saw they were still covered with stupid contacts, but didn't want to complain. "P-Painkillers?" he panicked a bit at the thought of getting more drugged but after a few moments of thinking, Dib decided it would be the only way for now to get rid of the all too strong pain flooding through his entire chest. "Okay, I could try some...of them. I don't care if they are for Irkens. I-I just want to get this aching feeling out of my body. Zim. P-Please..." He went to hold the Irken's hand again, but stopped in his movement, remembering earlier and that Zim wouldn't like it.

Zim was quite relieved that the human had agreed to use the pain killers, but was slightly concerned about if they may cause the boy some side effects. Probably wouldn't cause anything too major. The last time Zim himself had used them was after he'd taken a walk with GIR, and GIR had somehow managed to break a fire hydrant, which caused some burns on Zim's skin. Zim shuddered at the memory. "Wait here Dib-worm," Zim ordered as he walked out of the room, but this time leaving the door unlocked so Dib wouldn't panic and collapse again.

His eyes widened slightly as he watched Zim stand up, leaving his side. He frowned but decided it was for his own good to take those painkillers. But still... "Zim!" Dib snatched Zim's hand again before he was out of reach and said: "C-Could you please hurry get them? I... just don't like to be...alone here." He glanced around the foreign room with its metal walls and ceiling made of wires and stuff. Dib gave Zim's hand a last squeeze and released it. He bowed his head, own hands neatly folded in his lap and started his musings again, waiting for Zim to come back with some medications and reassuring, supporting himself. He needed Zim right now and not just for painkillers...

He'd have to say, Zim was more than slightly confused about Dib's unusual behaviour. Especially that hand-holding...thingy. Zim just shook his head and made his way down the corridor to his lab. He looked around... 'Wow... I really need to tidy this stuff up' he thought, seeing half-finished machines and blueprints all over the floor. He walked up to a range of little boxes on his shelving units. Explosives, No. Guns, No. Emergency Supplies, Yes. He picked it up, took off the lid, and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. 2 mini pill capsules. Both red with little blue stripes down the sides. He took them out and replaced the box back onto the shelf. Putting them in his pocket, he made his way back to Dib.

Dib didn't saw how Zim left the room, already in deep thinking. 'What's fucking wrong with me?! This is NOT my normal self. I'm so desperate...and clingy all of a sudden. Stupid head!' He slapped the back of his head. There was just sitting a small bump, but maybe there was more damage inside his head, at his brain. Dib doubted it; there was just some dizziness here and there, but nothing major. Suddenly the image of Zim -quickly walking to him while he was crouching on the floor in Skool- popped up clearly in his mind. All the other students were unimpressed by from Dib Membrane, sitting in front of his locker and obviously in pain. Whimpering and crying quietly. Zim was the only being who cared for him in that moment; to be honest: also the only one in general. And now that Dib thought about it, Zim looked truly concerned as he was kneeling down before him; the moment he looked in the Irken's eyes. Dibs prediction this morning was right.

"Today something's changing about... Zim and me." A small pang of hope was felt in his heart. Strangely, he liked that thought. From all that happened by now, it seems to change in a good way. Maybe, he and Zim could get along after all these years. Still, Dib didn't found the reason for his different behaviour, but why should he complain about it? 'I just don't wanna be alone anymore'. And with that notion, he looked up, smiled wide and waited for Zim. The throbbing pain in his chest was still there, but so much weaker now; replaced with a pleasant warming feeling in his heart.

On the way to his room, Zim couldn't help but think what had actually happened today. To start off with, Dib got hurt and Zim actually CARED about it!? Usually he'd be laughing and cheering. But when it actually happened, he didn't feel happy in the slightest. If anything, he felt concerned and angry. As he said before, only ZIM could hurt his enemy. Secondly, he actually trusted Dib into his base? That wasn't something that happened every day. Because usually Dib was trying to take pictures and videos of all his machinery to send to his Swollen Eyeball people. Third, Dib seemed to keep repeating the motion of holding Zim's hand... He'd have to ask Dib what it meant when he got back. It wasn't something Irkens usually did, but, it felt nice. Like, someone actually cared. Back on Irk, physical contact is pretty much forbidden if it's not for injuring or harming the other life form in question. He snapped out of his thoughts when he realized he'd reached his room. He entered and saw Dib still sitting on the bed, where he had left him. He seemed to be... smiling? Had his ribs healed already? Since a few moments ago he looked in pain... 'Humans...' he sighed to himself in frustration.

When the boy saw Zim entering the room, he kept smiling and just said "Hi", waving a bit with his hand. Zim sat down beside him on his previous spot, reached into a pocket and took two funny looking striped pills, holding them out for Dib to take them, not saying a word. He quickly gulped them without further question. Then his gaze was drawn to Zim's gloved hand, still in his place, showing its open palm. Dib tried to resist but failed and snatched Zim's hand in a quick motion like the last time, like fearing of losing this chance to touch Zim for reassurance.

Zim looked down at their locked hands. "Zim has been meaning to ask... What is this human act?" He asked. He'd been wondering for a while. He'd seen female and male humans do it, but never two males. Was it a sign of hatred? But, if it was, it wouldn't feel comforting...

Dib tensed a bit. Oh...yeah. Of course Zim would ask that. Heh. Nonetheless Dib blushed. "Umm...holding hands is...actually a sign of a-affection, of liking the another being. To be there for that person. A-And right now I...need some r-reassurance...and you helped me after all. So I wanna...also t-thank you for that." A small squeeze. Dib just hoped Zim wouldn't be disgusted by that "human act" now. Another reason was that Zim looked like he would need some comfort too. Frowning and grumbling sometimes. And the Irken's claw-like hand felt slightly cool; maybe because of that black glove, he's constantly wearing. 'What's under that rubbery? Is he hiding something, needing to be protected from environment?' Dib wanted to feel the skin under the black material, but didn't dare to move from his position. Also, he was scared by his suddenly intensifying curiosity. 'Maybe I AM crazy...'

Zim's mind went blank for a few seconds. Show of affection? The Dib likes being with him? Zim looked down at their locked hands again. Also reassurance. "Well... Zim likes this 'hand-holding' human act. It feels nice." Zim admitted, looking up at Dib. Wait... The Dib had THANKED Zim!? Well, that was new... But, it was a good new. Zim smiled at Dib. Which even Zim didn't know why, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Dib inwardly hoped for such an answer, but he still couldn't quite believe it. He thought, Zim would hate that thing with all this touching! "R-Really?" he squealed. "I-I mean... that's good. I'm...glad you're liking it too. Yeah, it feels...nice." With new rising courage, he just asked: "Ahem... Z-Zim. I bet...it would feel much better...this hand-holding...w-when you could take off those...gloves, you're always wearing. Only if...if that's possible. Heh." He rubbed his neck nervously, thinking he was a fool.

Zim considered this for a moment. Invaders aren't supposed to take their gloves off, it was a sign of disrespect... But again, what the almighty Tallest don't know, won't hurt them. So, Zim carefully took off his left glove and placed it next to him, then did the same with his right glove. It felt nice to actually be able to see and feel his hands, not just his gloves. His hands were paler than his usual skin tone, from lack of sunlight, since he'd never actually taken them off since the first day he arrived on Earth.

Dib instantly stared with awe at Zim's now bare hands. They were so pale, a light lime-green and got skinny fingers with talons and the sharp ends. Fascinating. Zim could easily cut through his skin, Dib thought and shuddered slightly. But, he wouldn't do that to him, right? Not anymore... He looked swiftly at the alien's face, who was also inspecting his hands. '...like he seen them for the first time without these gloves on,' Dib chuckled. He carefully grabbed Zim's right hand with both of his, afraid he could cut himself with a too quick motion. Wow... Zim's hand was still so cool compared to his own, but there was a small warmth feeling radiating off of it! Dib rubbed the Irken's hand a bit, with the sudden urge to warm them up with his warm ones. While he did that, he was suddenly aware how incredible soft Zim's hand was, especially his palm and inner sides of the fingers. Dib massaged that area and quite enjoyed this velvet-like feeling on his skin.


	4. Chapter 4

The Invader was slightly shocked by Dib's sudden grab for his hand, but it wasn't a bad shock. The human's hands were quite rough and slightly bigger than his own. He'd usually wondered why humans had so many fingers. 3 was enough to get work done, so why do people need 5?

When Dib started massaging his hand, he couldn't help but relax a little. That one small motion seemed to take away some of the stress of his 'mission'. After a while, Zim found it quite difficult to sit up straight, so he decided to risk it and lean against Dib, slightly nervous of what the human's reaction might be.

Dib was still inspecting this strange alien hand. 'So sharp at the ends, but so soft at the same time. It's so...exotic. And only 3 fingers!

How is Zim able to do things properly...?' Suddenly his track of thoughts stopped and vanished, because now he felt the entire Zim leaning against his shoulder. His face looked calm, but, from his quickening breathing, Dib could sense some tension coming from Zim. Also, his hand which was lying on Dib lap was getting much warmer. Dib bit his bottom lip and sandwiched Zim's hand between his own two, rubbing them in circles over the green skin. Dib looked up to Zim's eyes which were staring ahead. And there was a tiny smile on the Irken's lips!

This feeling was extremely new to Zim. Normally he'd be stressed out about trying to find another way to impress his leaders, or conquer/destroy Earth... But now, he felt nearly completely relaxed. Although, he was still slightly worried if the human boy next to him would find this weird. Zim suddenly felt the human's eyes on him. He didn't know what to do. His Pak was saying that this was wrong, that he should get up and kick the human out of his base, but, he also felt so calm, like nothing really mattered that much anymore. He looked up to look back at Dib. He could feel himself blush slightly.

And there it was. A darker greenish hue on Zim's cheeks! 'He is blushing...'

Dib thought and kept rubbing Zim's hand which was twitching a bit between the human's hands every so often. What a pleasant feeling... Zim's eyes...his eyes. This luscious magenta or red or purple? Yes. It was hard for Dib to actually define the colour of the alien orbs; he was slightly dizzy again, but not from pain. Maybe it was those painkillers, but the boy doubted it. Zim's eyes...were so beautiful. And exotic; just like his hands and actually everything about Zim in that moment. Dib's face was sooo red for a while now and it wouldn't go away it seems.

"Zim...Zim, I can..." He tried to move his eyes away from those eyes but failed and was drawn back them at every try; so he spoke again: "Z-Zim...I don't know, what to say..." No blinking. "Y-Your hand is...so soft and very warm now. This feels...odd. And... And when I see your face... I can tell it...it isn't different from your thoughts." The normal, annoying Zim would have thrown Dib out of his base a while ago. Before even the slightest touch was made. Well, pleasant ones at least.

He didn't know if it was all the touching, or the fact that they hadn't actually had a fight today, but something was clearly making this moment awkward. He himself actually felt extremely awkward. He wasn't used to this kind of moment... He could still feel Dib's hand on his own. He thought for a moment, he was already without his contacts and gloves... and his wig was making his head itch. And he was sure he could trust Dib not to have a secret camera or something with him. So, he reached up and took of the mop of black hair. It felt weird to be without his disguise in front of the human. But, he didn't mind this time. He looked back up at the human, and then suddenly he felt a strange feeling in his squiggly spooge, the part in his chest. It felt warm and sort of tingly.

It wasn't unpleasant, but it was certainly not felt by the invader before. "Dib-stink, Zim feels weird... have you done something?" He asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

When Dib saw Zim removing that wig out of the corner of his eyes, he was finally able to avert his gaze from Zim's orbs. Now he stared with widened amber eyes at Zim's antennae. Two long, delicate stalks slowly raised in the air, twitching a bit. Sure, Dib saw them before, but he never was so near them and got the chance to actually, really see them in a calm moment... like this one right now. Dib gulped and took his left hand from Zim's to reach out for an antenna. But suddenly they quickly lowered and were now lying flat on Zim's head. The boy flinched at that and automatically looked at Zim again. His eyes were narrowed.

'Did I made him mad at me?! Or...or...now he's about to get to his mind and kick me out!' Panic arose in Dib. He didn't like that thought. He just wanted this moment would last longer. Please. But Zim's last words were finally registered by his brain. 'Wait...he feels "weird". Just like me! That's all so strange. Zim's an alien after all. He's surely just confused. Like me... But not mad. Yeah.' The panic weakened. "Zim. I-I feel weird too. So weird. It...It is this warm feeling in my chest, pain left . Probably the painkillers. But it's like...a good aching there. A-And this tingling feeling in my hand is...spreading into my arm, to my chest too. Hard to describe. It's...all so new to me. B-But I didn't do something except hold your hand right now." He laid his hand back on top of Zim's one. "I surely feel the same...like you Zim. And I don't know what it is." Dib blinked several times and looked from Zim's face to their sandwich of hands on his lap, giving Zim's a small squeeze.

Zim noticed Dib's hand move towards his antennae, and his words seemed to stop his suspicion, but still. He wanted to know why he felt like this. Why he felt so weird. That's when he noticed Dib squeeze his hand again. But this time, Zim squeezed his hand back. "Heh, Today has been weird. First of all I actually care that you've been injured. And now, we're 'hand holding'..." Zim mumbled, still kinda embarrassed about the fact that, they were in-fact, 'hand holding'. Zim looked up, but this time, his gaze was locked on Dib's scythe-like haircut. Looked kind of like a singular antennae!

"Dib-worm, is this... thing, a human antennae?" He asked, poking it curiously.

Zim's hand squeezed his own. That was truly a sign for Dib. For what, he didn't know for what... The sharp talons grazed at his skin, but it was an oddly tingling feeling. 'Wow...' "Y-Yeah. This 'hand-holding' feels...really good, Zim. And it means...very much to, when two humans do that. E-Especially when...when it's performed for so a long while. But it's not so awkward anymore, at least for me." Zim's last question threw him off guard and when Zim poked his scythe-lock. It was cute. Dib laughed. For the first time that day! He really laughed quite hard. "No, Zim...hahaha...that's just my hair. It...haha...got that strange shape for years now. It's sticking out like an antenna, yeah. But it can't sense anything." Dib reached out and took Zim's poking hand from his hair and intertwined his fingers with Zim's and laid them on his lap beside the other two hands. Lime-green alien ones and his own which were slightly bigger that Zim's and so cupped them easily.

"Oh," he simply replied, feeling kind of like an idiot now. He looked down and saw that now both of his hands were being held. For some reason he felt kind of trapped now. But when he looked at their intertwined fingers, he didn't seem to mind. Zim decided to rest his head on Dib's shoulder once again, since he was beginning to feel too relaxed that it was actually starting to make him feel quite sleepy. He felt his eyes start to drop slightly, when he remembered Dib's ribs. "How are your ribs now human? Are they still causing you pain?" Zim asked, not bothering to even lift his head. He just kept looking at their hands. Funny how only a while ago they were hating each other and giving the other death threats, and now, here they were, sitting together, just talking... Almost like friends...

"Heh. No. There is no pain anymore, Zim...t-thanks to you. Really. Not just the painkillers, but you...at this moment, leaning against me. I like it..." Were they still enemies? No. As things were looking now, obviously not. And Dib didn't mind that notion. "I guess...we won't fight anymore.

At least not today. No fighting like always before." He looked at Zim and was strangely afraid he would sleep too soon. "A-Are you sleepy, Zim? Hmm, Come one, stay awake...for me." he used one hand to shake the alien a bit.

"Eh? Oh... Yeah," He mumbled, before shaking his head to stay awake. Yeah... What Dib had said was right. They probably wouldn't fight anymore, or at least so often. He smiled at that thought. He'd much rather have a 'friend' than someone who was constantly trying to expose and kill him. Wait, were they friends? Do you have to have permission from the other person to be friends...? Maybe. The only other friend he really has was GIR, but he was a pain in the neck.

"Does this make us friends Dib-worm?" Zim asked as he raised their interlocked hands.

Dib wasn't so surprised about Zim's question. He asked that himself several times by now. He stared at their hands, hanging in the air and shifted his fingers, rubbing Zim's three ones. 'This makes us...friends. Yeah! We can't stay enemies like this!' Dib smiled wide at that realization and kept rubbing. "Yeees...this makes us friends. There's no doubt, Zim. And ya' know what? I really like that thought." Dib unlocked Zim's hand on his lap and carefully snaked his right arm around Zim's slim torso. After all that hand-holding, along with talking about warm tingling feelings, it felt just natural to do that. Dib sighed contently.

Zim was quite happy when Dib said yes about being friends, but was quite shocked when he put his arm around him... He tensed up to start with, but quickly relaxed again. This was a nice change from being splashed with water, and having meat covered in BBQ sauce thrown at your head all the time. Zim smiled, and being turned into baloney, Zim chuckled a bit at the memory... Oh how ridiculous they must have looked. Mind you, they were still in elementary school back then. That probably wasn't one of Zim's greatest plans, but, it was worth it for the memory of actually working with Dib, instead of against him. How did they actually turn back to normal? Oh well. Doesn't matter now at least. Zim's antennae twitched a bit when Dib sighed. But he was happy that Dib was also enjoying this calm moment.

When Zim tensed for first for a few seconds Dib as worried. Did he go too far? But when Zim relaxed again, actually more than before, he was relieved. Yep. This was going the right way. Hey, they were literally snuggling! Dib felt giddy and so warm. 'Never guessed I would do that with anyone...with Zim!' Dib caught a small motion in his sight and looked at Zim. Of course, he always wondered how they feel, but never actually thought he would get the chance to even coming near them. And now they were hanging just a few centimetres away from his face, twitching now and then...

Zim was already letting him hold his hands and also leaned against him, almost nuzzling him; so Dib doubted it would be a problem for Zim to touch them, thinking they were just two black decorating stalks. And with that he let go of Zim's other hand and first lightly poked at the base of one of them, before he took it between his thumb and index finger and began to stroke them up and down near the head, feeling its strange rubbery texture...

When Zim felt Dib poke his antennae, he immediately froze... "DIB-THING! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DO-", he cut himself off when he felt the boy stroking them. Antennae touching was forbidden on Irk, since it was said to be a sign of weakness and a distraction from work. But, now, it felt... wonderful. He felt a chill go down his spine. His mind started going all cloudy. His Pak was practically yelling at him to do something, to stop this. But, he didn't want to... So, he instead just clenched his fists in hope it would help.

Quickly Dib took his hand away from the stalk, thinking he had hurt Zim with this move. "ZIM? I-I'm sorry! I didn't want to hurt you. Really! I just thought...your antennae very...tempting and I wanted to...just...just feel them a bit. I didn't knew, you could even feel my fingers up there. Man, I should have asked...stupid Dib!" He saw Zim's clenched fists and his unmoving self and concluded he was in pain...because of him! He closed his eyes and wildly shook his dizzy head. "Stupid, stupid..." he kept mumbling.

Once the hand was removed from his antennae, he could immediately think straight. He looked to the boy sitting next to him. He thought he was in pain? Heh... Silly human. "No Dib-thing. That didn't hurt. In-fact, it felt... nice," he admitted, not knowing how else to put it. He saw Dib shaking his head quite violently... Looked quite painful to his neck, and possibly maybe even his brain. "Human, you're going to give yourself a headache again." He stated quickly putting his hand on the other's forehead to stop him doing any more damage.

His shaking stopped, when Dib felt that warm hand again, this time of his forehead. He stopped and saw Zim staring at serious at him or...kinda worried? Zim got the same look like one or two hours ago, when Dib was laying on the Skool floor. Zim was concerned again and...wait. He wasn't in pain? It felt actually...nice?! Yeah, Zim said that. 'Zim is right...again. I'm such a fool sometimes' But Dib smiled. "Thanks, Zim. S-So, if you like that...I mean being t-touched there...ahem, w-would you mind if I could feel them a bit m-more..?" His fingers wiggled a bit. Now he was all the more curious about that matter, because Zim could feel with them...and they were sooo sensitive.

Zim blushed slightly at the question. It did feel nice... but, it made him so 'out of it'... like someone had just got a pillow and rammed it into his brain to stop him thinking. But the look on Dib's face, the look of curiosity, made him feel kind of bad on thinking what his reaction would be if he said no. So, that pretty much answered that. "If you must human," Zim sighed, moving slightly closer so the human could reach his antennae easier.

The curious Dib suppressed a small squeal when he got Zim's approval and the Irken scooted closer. His face heated up instantly. He lifted his right hand to Zim's head, looking at those thin, delicate stalks...and blew some warm air on one of them. The antenna swung ever so slightly, like a grass blade in the wind. Then he lifted his hand again and hummed contently, enjoying the feel of this odd silky texture on his fingers, which slowly made their way up the delicate stalk, trailing along the tapering length of it, until his two fingers-index and thumb reached the feathery tip.

There Dib stopped and opened his eyes, wanting to see Zim in that moment...

To start with, Zim was slightly nervous about letting Dib touch his antennae again, especially when he blew on them, seeming to warm them up for a brief moment. Humans and their curiosity, sometimes gets annoying. Especially to the Irken. But when the others fingers actually did come into contact with his antennae, that's when that pillow-in-your-head kind of feeling came back. The human's fingers seemed to go agonisingly slow along the stalks, but Zim wasn't complaining. He felt his eyes start to slip down again and a yet another shiver go down his spine... Oh, what a yelling at he'd get if the Tallest ever found out that he let a human do this to his antennae... But Zim didn't seem to care at that moment in time, which shocked him. He felt himself sink back into Dib a bit more without even realizing he was doing it, but it was comfy, and he didn't intend to move any time soon, that was for sure.

Dib was enjoying it as much as Zim and kept stroking up and down Zim's antenna. It was twitching, when his fingers reached the bent tip. Dib carefully pinched it. Zim was now resting his head on the boy's chest with almost closed eyes, a rest of shining magenta orbs was seen. Beautiful. Dibs other arm was hugging Zim more tightly, holding him close to his chest, so maybe he could hear his racing heart with his antennae. Zim was just so warm and soft. Dib couldn't be happier in that moment.


	5. Chapter 5

Zim felt the human's arm around him. Was this another human expression like hand-holding? When he felt the other teen pinch the tip of his antennae, his mind went almost completely blank. He hated the way his antennae were so sensitive, but the feeling he got from them was amazing. Apart from them being sensitive, he could also hear from them, and what he heard at that moment was the human's heart-organ-thingy beating quite quickly. Quicker than usual. Humans had such weird organs.

"Human, w-why does your heart-organ beat l-like that?" Zim asked, it was quite a struggle to get words out, when his mind was like jelly.

His finger closed around the tip and rubbed it against the palm. Dib still enjoyed this feathery texture, when he heard Zim speaking. His voice was slurred, like he was drunk. Drunk of bliss. Dib was quite surprised that just this simple stroking on one antennae had such an impact on Zim. This fact only fuelled his eagerness. With closed eyes he responded: "Hmmm...My heart? Yeah. It's beating very fast right now. Because I got this exiting feeling and such tingling all over my body. This...this is totally new to me. To hold someone so close and giving small ministrations. And moreover you're that one being. It's YOU, Zim. And...it's still somewhat confusing. I should be so wrong, but...but it isn't; at least for me. It just feels very good and...relaxing"

He lightly pinched the tip again and blew some warm breath on it. "And I like your antennae -thingy", he giggled.

Hmm, so human heart-organs respond to emotions? Zim would have to remember that and put it in a report for his tallest. When he felt more warm breath on his an antennae, his throat starting vibrating, and making a soft purring sound. 'Oh no, not in front of the Dib,' Zim mentally complained to himself. Irkens had the ability to purr when they were happy to be with the other being, but since Irkens no longer could feel emotions; this ability was shown as a sign of being a defect and being weak. And Zim was no defect! But when the human pinched the tip of his antennae again, he didn't seem to mind so much, which scared him slightly. And it didn't help that the purring got slightly louder. 'Stupid human!'

Suddenly a strange sound was filling the soundless air in the room. Where did it came from? Dib looked around but quickly realized...it was ZIM! Zim was making that odd sound. Zim was...purring?! Yes. Now he felt a faint vibration on his chest. Zim. He was purring like a cat, but with a strange tone in it; deep and throaty; but small and soft at the same time. Dib never heard anything like that. It was unique and exotic, just like the rest of Zim. And...god, it was sooo alluring to hear. Zim could make such a pleasant sound? Wow. Dibs fingers now trailed up and down the entire length of it with a slow rhythm. His fingertips just grazed the rubbery surface of the stalk. Silky and somewhat squishy; but so delicate and fragile. Man, this thingies really must be sensitive. "Z-Zim...what is that strange sound you're making? That's very interesting to listen. Are you happy, so you automatically...purr?" A smug grin was seen on Dibs face. "Heh. You sound like a big, exotic, green cat, Spaceboy. That's...kinda cute."

With that, Zim's eyes shot open. Cute? CUTE!? Did the human just call him cute!? Zim was many things, like amazing, proud and the superior being, but he was NOT cute!

"Human! Zim is not 'kyuute', and, he is N-NOT a cat!" Zim complained. "And, the Irken ability to 'purr' is w-when a Irken feels... content with being with another. It's rare for Irkens to actually do it, s-since Irkens no longer have emotions." Zim explained, staying to stay focused. Curse this human and his touching. "And Zim has never done it before, so it must be because you insist on poking at my antennae..." Zim said, causing him to blush slightly. Oh the shame... First he lets the human into his base, then he lets him touch his antennae, and NOW he was purring... Zim suddenly got a rush of embarrassment. Now he knew something was wrong with his Pak!

Dib engulfed the middle of the feeler with his hand making a fist, but not in a too tight grip. "Zim, it wasn't meant as an insult. Actually it isn't even a bad thing. I'm just saying...I-I really like your purring. And...and you know what? I would purr too, if I could b-because I like to have this relaxing moment with you right now, to be with you. And of course you're not a cat. You are a proud Irken soldier, at least when you want to be" Another smirk. Dib glanced sideways at his chest and saw Zim's growing blush and felt somewhat guilty now. He frowned slightly "B-But if you're uncomfortable with that, I could just stop."

'Zim definitely had emotions besides anger and hate. He's so calm, so still. Lying on my chest!' It was hard to believe, but there they were...

Zim's purring increased when Dib's entire hand was around his antennae. "Zim's not uncomfortable Dib-worm... I'm just t-thinking about what's happened today... and what my leaders would think if they knew I actually helped a human." But when he actually thought about it, most of what his leaders had said was wrong. They said that Irkens had no feelings, but that was a lie. About Zim anyway. They said antennae touching was wrong and was forbidden, but it wasn't wrong. It felt nice. "And yes, Zim is the most almighty Irken solider that there was ever BEEN!" Zim yelled, having his confidence back.

Dib began to squirm in his place when he heard Zim's purring getting louder. An intense heat radiated through his body. Oh boy, that purring! It was really addicting. It was a bit hard to concentrate. "S-Same for me, Zim. I still can't really believe that...you helped me and that you brought me to you base...with no bad intention." With each stroke of his hand, Zim's purring got more intense. Dib loved this submissive side of him! After a few silent moments he couldn't help himself. Zim's entire behaviour in the last minutes was so fascinating... Dib took the antenna between his thumb and index finger and slowly bring it to his mouth...until the tip was brushing his lips. He took a deep breath through his nose and ever so slightly poked the tip with the point of his tongue, licking it just some millimetres.

He got the strong feeling Zim would LIKE that and will get more submissive...

Suddenly Zim felt something else on his antennae apart from the other boy's hand. He soon realized it was the human's slug-like tongue. He could feel a slight sizzle from the liquid on it, but it wasn't enough for it to hurt him like rain water did. It actually felt better than what the human was doing before. He subconsciously reached for the taller boy's hand which was around his torso and gave it a slight squeeze. He could also feel his eyes slowly shutting. He hated the way he reacted to these simple touches, but, he also kind of liked it. He was just glad no-one else was in his base to actually see any of this.

When Dib felt Zim's hand squeezing his own, he stopped in his actions, unmoving tongue still touching the feathery tip of Zim's oh so very sensitive antenna. Was this a bad sign? Did he go too far with that? Or more like Zim's clenching fists before when Dib used his fingers. Was it too much for Zim? But in a good way. Zim allowed it, so it must be okay.

Yeah, Zim enjoyed it! Dib wasn't so unsure anymore, now determined. He saw the others closed eyes and the green three-fingered hand on his human one. 'The almighty little Zim', it was amusing. Dib pressed Zim against his chest more tightly and intertwined their hand like before, but with a stronger grip. His great amount of fingers easily covered the alien one and fusion with the three talon-like of Zim's. Dib looked at that. How fitting, in a unique way. Dib slipped his tongue back to wet it a bit more before reaching out again. He poked the tip a few times and then began to lick the base of the stalk by curling his tongue around it, wanting to get a nice reaction from Zim.

Zim gasped slightly when he felt Dib's tongue rap around his antennae. He hated this show of weakness. The Dib was obviously enjoying the moment too. Irk, humans were confusing, one moment they hate you, the next, they're doing... THIS. But, the invader was quite enjoying it. He felt the human press him closer to his chest and tighten their 'hand-holding'. Zim's mind suddenly rested on a question, he'd never seen two males do this kind of thing together at school, he'd only seen a male and a female do something vaguely similar. So why was the human doing this? Did friends usually do this? All of a sudden he felt a shot of what felt like electricity go down his spine. "Nyah..." He murmured.

The human boy enjoyed the silky feeling on his tongue a little bit longer and suddenly withdrew it back into his mouth with wide eyes, new nervousness building up inside him. It seemed his brain was finally telling him to stop, before things would go out of hand. Of course, his face was an overripe red tomato.

"Irkens usually don't do such things, r-right? Zim, I m-mean, I don't even know why...I'm so curious all of a sudden. I always saw you as...as cold, heartless space-monster. B-But now you're so submissive. That's not the old, classic Zim I knew for so long. And...and I guess it's not normal for human friends to do this." 'I shouldn't do this. Curse my curiousness!' Dib didn't know what to do. He loved that new Zim, but maybe tomorrow it will be all vanished and forgotten; getting back to fighting as usual. Dib didn't want that, but was too scared what would happen if he continued to "pleasure" Zim this way. He always wondered about Zim's body functions, especially the reproductive organs. Okay, antennae weren't just made for hearing and smelling, that's was sure... He decided to just wait for a proper response from Zim and kept him in place, hands interlocked.

"No Dib-stink, Irkens don't usually do this. But, my Tallest, and even the empire, have been wrong about so many things." Zim admitted. He didn't exactly know what the human was talking about. But when he heard something about normal human friends to do this kind of thing, it really made him start to think. Dib was just curious, like usual, so it wasn't much of a big deal right? Zim was also kind of worried that they'd go back to being enemies. He enjoyed this 'friendship', even if they had just been 'friends' for a few moments. He looked up and saw that the human's face was in a slight frown.

"Dib-thing, are you ok?" Zim asked.

Dib was surprised that Zim admitted something like that about his always so "superior" race and "almighty" leaders. This day surely had quite an impact on Zim too. Why was everything suddenly changing so quickly? Just because that jerk Torque hit him harder than ever before. Sooner or later that would have happened anyway, he thought. "We have built up an almost...impressive enemyship in the last two years or so. And in one day, it's all gone? That's really...odd. But it's nice. So, yeah...I'm okay, very okay with that. I'm just...just not sure, if we should cross the borders of a normal human friendship, Zim. Friends shouldn't...t-touch each other like we did just now." He rubbed his neck nervously and got sweaty. But his right hand was still locked with Zim's and gave it a small reassuring squeeze from time to time.

Zim sat up straight at the last part.

"They don't?" Zim asked. He knew something seemed weird, but if that was so, then why had Dib done it in the first place? Now he certainly felt awkward... "Yeah, I enjoy this 'friendship' too," he admitted. Suddenly another question came to his mind. "If that's not what friends do, why do it then?" He questioned the human. He honestly didn't know what to think now. 'Ugh, this planet is just weird.' Zim thought. Things were so much simpler on Irk, even if it was kind of stupid. But hey, Earth was WAY more stupid!

Dib didn't expected Zim sitting up so suddenly without warning. He fell from the bed and hit the floor with his side. And there was the pain again! "OOUUUCH!" He whined. Dib held his throbbing chest with the still cracked ribs in it. "Damn, Zim. You could have warned me or something! That HURTS, you fool!" He gritted his teeth and looked up at Zim. And he saw...that they were still holding hands. Not tightly locked together like just moments before, but still connected. Zim's hand was open and Dib's was gripping at him- around the Irkens wrist, like begging for help to get up. He didn't move his hand and just endured the pain. Neither of them released the grip. He remembered Zim's question. "I did... all this stuff, because...ouch! ...Because I was...was curious how you would react and how i-it would feel to do this to y-you. And... You enjoyed it at least, like me...hmpf..." He winced in his spot and held onto the mattress. "I-It's just...that normal friends don't...don't go this far. It is something...m-mates usually do." All the while looking at Zim, wanting him to understand. Well, Dib didn't fully understand this concept himself.

When Dib fell to the floor, panic starting making its way into Zim. He forgot how fragile the human was at that moment in time. He mentally slapped himself for being so stupid. "Oh Irk!" Zim exclaimed. He leant down and helped the human to sit back on the side of the bed, taking care not to hurt him any more than he already was. Once he was sure he wouldn't fall over again, he let him go. "Oh..." was all Zim could say. Wow he felt like an idiot... He guessed it was because he wasn't actually used to this kind of thing happening. Since 'mates' were pretty much forbidden on Irk. Since they, yet again, interfered with work and invading. He looked towards Dib who still seemed to be in pain, but he also saw a slight hint of anger. Well he guessed he'd be angry too if someone else had let them fall to the ground, and not understood a simple concept... Zim sighed, stood up and made his way to the door, "I'll go get you some more pain killers Dib-thing."

Dib gladly accepted Zim's help and sat there with a bent back, holding his poor sides. Zim really sounded like a fool when he just said "Oh..." 'Nice excuse, Zim,' he angrily thought. But only now he realized that he wasn't holding Zim's hand anymore. He stared at his fingers and his hand suddenly felt cold and empty without the 3 green talons in it. He kept staring at them, not even hearing Zim's last words. When he finally looked up, the alien had already left the room.

"Computer!" Zim yelled when he had reached his lab. It replied in its usual bored 'Whaaat?' "Computer, bring up details on 'mates'," he ordered. Going to the other side of the lab to pick up the pills whilst the computer brought up details. When he returned, he saw lots of pictures, and pages about Earth mates. He started reading. "Earth mates, commonly known as girlfriends or boyfriends, are very common on Earth. 9.5/10 humans have one in their life time. If they decide to stay together for a long period of time, this is called marriage." Not especially helpful information... Lower down in the paragraph, there was info on what they usually do during that period of time. Zim felt himself start to feel quite ill... 'Humans do THAT!?' He mentally complained... 'Irk are they gross!' He looked along the pictures, some more graffic than others... But there were no pictures of two males or two females together... Hmm. "Computer! Bring up information on 'friendship'!" Now here, here were some pictures of two males and two females together. But none of them were 'hand-holding'... "Ok computer, that's all," he sighed. The computer replied with something along the lines of 'that was a waste of my time', to which Zim just gave it a glare. He then turned on his heels and made his way back to Dib.

A lonely monologue was heard. "What should I do...or say when Zim comes back?! He's probably getting me more painkillers, yeah. Could I continue touching him and holding his hand? That felt so nice... Should I just leave the base before he will get mad at me or things will get out of control...with all that touching? Damn, stupid, STUPID teenage hormones!" He desperately yelled the last part. It was frustrating. He was so happy a few minutes ago, and now just plain confused. His sceptical, pessimistic side of mind showed up again. "I just don't know what to do! I need some time to think. So leaving seems to be the best idea for now."

And with that he sat up and stormed through the door and out of the room, simply forgetting Zim and the pain at his ribs.


	6. Chapter 6

When Zim arrived back to the room which previously contained Dib, he looked around and saw no-one.

"Huh?" Now he WAS confused… Had he made the human so angry that he left? Zim sighed. Well, tomorrow was Tuesday, and that meant Skool, but would the human even be in Skool, maybe his ribs would have gotten worse… Or maybe Zim was just panicking slightly. He looked around the room, seemed a lot more dark and boring when Dib wasn't here to keep him company… He turned around and put the pain killers down on the side table, he didn't need them since the human was gone. He then made his way out of the room, back down to his lab to do more research.

During his walk, Dib tried desperately to remember the right way out of here, back up to the house level.

All he knew was that this was the underground part of Zim's realm. But the boy was too dizzy -almost unconscious, when Zim brought him here. He woke up on the bed sheets… and that's it. 'Damn. I should have waited for Zim. But nooo...my brain got an overload and rushed me out of the room'. Now he regretted his boisterous act. Dib suddenly felt very lonely and cold without Zim by his side. The hand-holding and nuzzling...Dib felt safe and wanted all the time in the room, because Zim was just there. No fighting or insulting.

Normally Dib was glad to not have the Irken around. That annoying loud and obnoxious green lizard! But... that wasn't the case anymore. Not in this moment. And the strange thing was that Dib got also his mood swings in the room because of Zim. He normally was a kinda introverted guy, who didn't say all too much (if it wasn't about Zim being an alien and stuff). When they both sat there on the bed Dibs mind began to work different. From embarrassment to joy and delightful pleasant feelings during touching Zim... (Dib blushed again) to shame, uncertainty, confusion and anger. Just seconds apart. It was just too much for him to overthink, it happened too fast. Hell, how was that even possible? They were enemies which hated each other. That should mean something! Well, time think was at home. Rght now, he needed to find a (secure) way outta here. Dib hadn't noticed that he walked all the time while he thought about all of this. He stopped and simply stood there, his mind blank.

Even when Zim reached his lab, he still felt confused. He looked to his right and saw the main screen monitor and on its keyboard, several plans for dooms-day machines. He walked over to them and picked one up. 'Acid Ray Gun - Turns anything, you fire it at, into acid'. Heh, kind of a dumb one. Second one 'Hypno Spray - One spray and the victim is under your control', pretty cool. He kept flicking through them, some good, and some bad. He was getting distracted. He shook his head and threw all the plans onto the floor so he could have access to the keyboard. But before he could type anything in, a little mini red light came down from the ceiling and the words "Intruder Alert" appeared on the main screen. He pressed a few buttons and a live-camera-feed came up of the intruder. But it was no intruder, it was Dib. Ugh, he'd set off the security system by walking into a secure section of the base.

"So that's where you got to," Zim mumbled to himself. Dib looked lost in thought... and lost in his base too. He watched him walk around for a bit, but then he came to a stop. He looked like a zombie, blank eyes and hardly any expression. But he had one thing a zombie didn't, a blush. Was the human that embarrassed at getting lost? Or was he thinking about earlier? Zim groaned, he guessed he'd have to help the human. He pressed some more buttons and a mini microphone appeared next to him. "Dib-thing, what are you still doing in my base?" Zim questioned, voice booming around the walls of his entire base.

The human boy snapped out of his trance. He knew that voice... Zim! He quickly looked around, but there was just darkness -lightly illuminated by a purple light with an unseen source. But Zim was nowhere to be seen. That scared Dib (actually he should have known that he was using some sort of microphones). This wasn't the case. Zim sounded angry, so he should answer "Z-Zim?! I can't see you, but...but I wanted to leave your base! I just forgot how to leave the underground level. It was you after all, who brought me...here", he yelled in the void air. Right now, he felt trapped and got the bad feeling, it was Zim's intention all along. But he didn't say anything.

Zim could only roll his eyes at this. "Ugh, human, you really are stupid. If you don't know how to get out, then why run off?" Zim sighed. Oh well, no use to argue now. He pressed a few buttons and the floor around where Dib was standing sort of gave way, like a mini elevator floor. After a few moments, it came back up in the first level's living room. "I trust you can get out from there," he teased, before shutting off the live-stream. "Computer!" Followed by another bored 'Whaaaat?' "Shut down garden gnomes until the Dib-human is out of firing range," he instructed. Lasers would surely make the boy's ribs worse. He secretly hoped that he'd be able to get back to his own house without injuring himself any more. He looked at the clock which displayed Earth time. '6pm'. Yeah, the human should be fine getting back at this time. If it was any later he'd probably go with him. But not many people were out this time of day, since they were usually with their miserable Earth families.

Dib felt the floor under his feet moving and after a single jolt and a 'whoosh' he was standing in the houses living room. 'Good question, Zim', was his only thought in this moment. Well, it didn't matter anymore. Right? Taking several careful steps, he reached the front door and opened it. One step. There he stood again. On the threshold. Sure, he wanted to finally go home. Maybe consulting a doctor or hoping he wasn't injured too badly.

But...there was still this other side of Dib. The side he showed when he was alone with Zim back in the room... This desperate side, searching for any kind of comfort and safety, emotionally instable and so needy. And curious... This side rarely showed up because...well, because Dib didn't have any friends or actually loving family members, that's for sure. Sad. Today Zim unintentionally fed this side with so much...stuff. It didn't allow Dib to just go and probably forget about what happened between him and Zim. The penny dropped. It told him to go back to Zim or at least wait for him up here. Maybe the Irken would show up, if only to get sure Dib left his base completely. And... This side won and got his 'will'...for now. Dib sighed deeply, hold his chest and trotted to the sofa.

Zim went back to his computer. But he couldn't really focus on it though. Then, he heard a rattling kind of noise. He turned around and saw a large pipe shuddering ever so slightly. Then he could hear a high pitched scream. Ugh, he knew who this was. Suddenly, a little grey figure fell to the ground, head first. He had an almost insane grin and his teal eyes light up with life. GIR. He was holding a toy rubber pig. Zim was glad that it was a toy, because it that had been a real pig, its organs would have been coming out through his eye sockets by how tightly GIR was clutching it. The little grey robot starting running around in circles, yelling something about having a tea party with the cows... He was insane, granted. But he was the closest thing to a 'family' that Zim had. Heh, when Zim thought about it, GIR was almost like a, what did the humans call them? Oh yeah, 'little brother'. Without any warning, GIR ran into the elevator which led to the main level. Zim just shook his head at the robot's randomness. But then, the random noises GIR was making stopped, and was replaced with a very loud, 'HELLO MARY!' GIR was never good with remembering names, and that was what he usually called Di- Wait... was the Dib still here? Zim stared at the elevator debating with himself if he should check or not.

That name. That random name. "MARY!" Great...Dib instantly scrambled away from the couch. He didn't why GIR always called him by that name every time he saw the boy. This robot sure was crazy. Hopelessly broken. "MARY WANTS TO PLAY WITH THE PIG!" That voice ached more than his ribs. It boomed in his head. Poor Dib... He can't figure out how Zim was able to stand against THIS all the time. Dib now stood between the door and sofa. "No! GIR. Please. I-I don't' wanna play with you right now. I'm hurt, so don't come near me. Go back...t-to Zim and tell him..." Tell him? Tell him what?! Stupid idea. He should just go, before he wanted to hug him or...or Zim came back and could...do stuff...to him. He gulped. This stupid decision again. And again Dib just stood there, like the goof he was. GIR stretched out his tiny arms and stepped strangely slow to Dib

"Soooomebody neeeds a huuug! IT'S YOU MARY". The robot ran towards Dib.

Yep, he should go check. With that, he made his way to the elevator. During the wait, he heard GIR say something about hugging 'Mary'... Oh Irk, if that robot hugged Dib, he'd get more broken ribs than was probably possible. Hurry up elevator! Zim tapped his foot impatiently. When he finally arrived on the main level, he saw GIR running towards the human, arms open, looking like he was going to eat him alive... Without thinking, the Irken ran towards GIR and grabbed his foot just as the robot was about to jump for Dib's torso. He lifted up the now upside-down bot so he could see his face.

"GIR! No hugging the human! He's already injured and you'll only make it worse!" He yelled before throwing the robot at the nearest wall. He watched him bolt right back up, run into the kitchen, and jump into the fridge, screaming about making waffles for his pig. Zim sighed. He'd have to fix that insane piece of junk one day...

The last thing Dib saw was GIR storming towards him. Instead of running he just closed his eyes. How stupid. Trembling slightly he waited for the hurtful impact... It didn't happen. Dib heard Zim's voice! And then a loud bang. He opened his eyes and saw Zim, lying on his belly on the metal floor. GIR had already left the room. Thank god.

"Zim..." was all he could say and walked beside him stretching out a helping hand. More of a symbolic gesture. "Thanks." He felt like an idiot for not just running away from GIR or throwing a pillow at him; avoiding the insane metal child.

Zim looked up at hearing Dib speak, he saw Dib offering to help him up. He smiled slightly and took the offer. Once he was standing up again, he brushed off some of the dirt and dust that has gotten onto his uniform from the floor. "You're welcome Dib-friend," Zim replied. It was only after he had said that, that he actually realized what he'd said... 'Dib-friend?' Oh well, they were friends now, so it wasn't that much of a big deal, right? He looked towards the kitchen, yep, GIR would be busy for quite some time. Since he had already, surprisingly quickly, made 15 waffles, piled into a mini tower and was stuffing them, one at a time, down the toy pig's mouth. He was just glad that wasn't him this time. Sometimes GIR could be quite violent without even realizing it.

When Dib grabbed Zim's still un-gloved, he felt a pang of joy, even from that swift touch. But when Zim called him 'Dib-Friend' along with that smile on the Irkens face, his heart warmed up immensely and he slightly. "Heh. That robot can really be a threat in my current condition. So, y-you saw me all the time then? It must have looked really stupid to get lost here and eventually standing around here while GIR was about to...hug me." He rubbed his arm and looked to the side. Dib was a horrible small talker. This feeling from before when he stood on the threshold came back. His 'other Dib-side' was satisfied and glad to have Zim around him again. "Wanna sit on the couch a bit? I-I think I wouldn't mind t-to stay a bit longer...with you."

Wouldn't mind?! Dib, you could hug Zim so tightly right here for just being back in the same room with you. Dib walked to the far end of the couch and awkwardly tapped the free space beside him.

"No, you didn't look THAT stupid. This place is pretty big. And GIR is very annoying and has the attention span of a teaspoon." Zim admitted. Many a time had GIR been a problem to him and his mission, but, he'd learnt to put up with that. When Dib mentioned about wanting to stay a bit longer, Zim couldn't help but be relieved. The streets, even in day time, could be chaotic. And that was the last place you wanted to be if you had an injury. Zim nodded and walked over to the couch. He sat down next to Dib, who seemed to be feeling slightly awkward. "Did GIR cause any more injuries before I arrived?" He decided to ask.

"Nothing more than a slight shock, but I should have known that he wouldn't let me go without even a short "visit" from him. I'm glad for your quick help. I was frozen. To be honest...my mind was struggling, if I should stay or leave your base and not coming back for a long while, just being home and skip Skool. But...I want to be with you for today. I-I really liked our "session" down there. We were just so...calm and sincere to each other. No fighting or death threats like usual. And... and I'm tired of this. I got a feeling this morning that...that today would be a big change between us; how we see each other and... behave around each other. It was so true. It goes confusingly fast and...I'm babbling too much...s-sorry. I will shut up now."

'Man, Zim surely isn't interested in your emotional struggle and latest feelings'. Dib frowned a bit. This was his over-rational side. The one which told him to leave the base and forget about today. 'Shut up, brain! I wanna stay.' Arguing with his own mind...Dib truly was crazy.

Once the human had literally spilt out his entire train of thoughts, Zim couldn't help but think that Dib was right. But he could also sense that Dib was kind of in a war against himself. Deciding whether he was right to stay or not. Zim also couldn't help but find it ever so slightly funny. "Don't be sorry human. You talking to much is just a part of who you are," He tried to explain. He wasn't exactly used to reassuring people. Especially not a human.

"And... I don't know, I guess I kind of like it when you talk. It makes a difference from you yelling in class about Zim being an alien and my mission and... stuff." Ugh... He also wasn't used to explaining his thoughts, if they weren't mean or insulting in some way. "Hey! Maybe you're psychic Dib-friend!" Zim exclaimed, half joking. He couldn't help but giggle at that thought. But, it could be a possibility, since the Dib was actually a LOT smarter than most humans on this spinning ball of filth. And if he had got the feeling that something would change, who's to say it wasn't a possibility?

The boy looked at Zim with wide eyes, amazed about his words. "Wow, Zim! I-I never heard such wise words from you -or anybody- before. You're right. I guess, I just have to live with that; with my weirdness and all that talking-to-myself stuff. But you're the only one I got the chance to speak to more than just a few words. But now...it doesn't involve insults or cursing anymore." He smiled warmly and looked at his lap, playing with is fingers, which wanted to go back in Zim's hand. Dib chuckled. "You know, as a child...I really believed I was a psychic, because it happens sometimes -not very often- that I got this predictions and notions out of nowhere. And now-" He laughed harder. It felt relieving. "-Now I think I was right. There could be a psychic part of. Rarely showing up, but it's there. Even YOU can see that, so there must be something." He joked, pointing at Zim and laughing.

"I know, Zim is genius," Zim stated smugly, but not in a mean way, more of a... joking kind of way.

When he heard Dib laugh, he nearly completely froze. He thought back, and realized, that today was probably the first day he'd actually heard Dib laugh and it not being scornful or spiteful...

He liked it. He liked seeing Dib happy. He smiled. "You know human... Y-you have a nice laugh..." Zim mumbled before looking to the side to avoid looking at Dib. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had to say that, thinking it'd make the human even happier. He guessed Dib didn't really hear things like that, since his sister was practically evil... Zim shuddered, and his parental-unit was hardly ever around. Plus, neither of them had really had a 'friend' before...

Dib stopped laughing,because he was genuinly surprised. Since when was Zim so open, especially around him? Dib liked that. He kept his wide smile and looked at Zim. "R-Really!? Thanks, Zim. N-Nobody said that to me before. I always thought...m-my laugh would just annopy poeple around me, so I guess I avoided it mostly." His gaze dropped "How pathetic, I know..." But his smile never faded. Zim was so...so cute, when he said that. Always when he's sincere and so calm. "A-And I really like your eyes. Ya' know not these stupid fake contacts, but...your real ones. Like now. Sometimes I can't stop looking at them. Like now." He looked ZIm in his shining red orbs and his smile widened.

"Please...look at me, Zim."

Zim turned around to look at the other boy. "My eyes?" Zim repeated... Back on Irk, magenta eyes were the most common and unwanted. "And your laugh isn't annoying," Zim mumbled. He lifted up his right hand slightly and held onto Dib's left hand. Yeah... He liked this show of friendship. He looked up and saw that Dib had one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen him with... "And you have a nice smile", he added, hoping it'd make the human happier. It was very weird to actually like seeing the human happy... Usually he'd be trying to make him feel miserable... But today was different, and he liked it that way.

When he felt Zim's hand on his own, Dibs heart missed a beat. There was it again. The hand-holding! And this time Zim was the one who started it! He quickly cupped Zim's hand with his slender fingers as if afraid it could vanish at any moment. While rubbing over the back of Zim's hand he mumbled softly:

"I never thought y-you would think about me that way. I don't know what to say. Your honest...and saying such nice things a-and taking my hand." He chocked. "You're not annoying either. Heh. At least when you want to be." A few tears of happiness were collecting in his eyes, but Dib didn't mind if Zim would see that. "Yeah, y-you got beautiful eyes, so unique, unearthly and...mysterious. They're slightly changing in colour, if I'm not mistaken." He blinked at Zim and turned around the Irkens hand to rub over his oh-so-very-soft palm. Hmm.

"Well of course I am not annoying, I AM Zim after all!" Zim proudly stated, using his free left hand to put on his own chest on sort of a victory pose. But after hearing the rest of what Dib had said, he suddenly started to feel quite awkward... He also felt the human start to rub his hand again. He slumped back down onto the couch, looked up and saw the human had tears in his eyes. Oh no... Had he said or done something to upset him... Oh Irk. Since emotions were rare on Irk, and he hadn't gotten close enough to a human to actually study emotions, he only knew of tears of sadness. Maybe Zim just wasn't cut out to be a friend to someone. "Zim is sorry... did he say something to upset you?" Zim asked, feeling like such an idiot.

"W-What? No! Zim. You didn't do anything wrong!" Dib quickly assured and shook his right hand around. "You're just so...gentle right now. It's so...unlike you. He saw Zim's expression and added: "B-But in a good way! Really. I like that. That new Zim. It's very nice... and that are tears of joy, b-because I'm just plain happy right now. Actually, today I got more good feelings and happiness like almost never before", he admitted. He hated that it was so true. His right hand clenched into a fist. No, this time, his depressed feelings wouldn't get in the way. It would just confuse Zim even more. Dib lifted his lanky legs up to the couch and tugged them under his thighs, sitting on them.

All Zim could do was nod. 'Oh... That explains a lot,' he thought. He looked towards Dib and saw that the human had a hint of worry about him... Suddenly Zim got an idea. It wasn't a big idea, but an idea none the less. "Dib-human? Do you want to watch some human TV?" Zim asked. He just thought that it'd make the moment less awkward if they had something else to focus on, instead of just their thoughts. But seeing what it does to GIR, maybe it wasn't such a good idea. But hey, GIR was already brain-dead to start off with.

'Human TV' Dib snorted at how that sounded. He guessed there was not such a thing on Zim's home planet. "Sure, Zim. Nice idea. But I doubt there is anything interesting broadcasting now." He grabbed the remote from the floor a handed it to Zim. "There. Let's switch some through the channels."

Once Dib had given him the remote, he tried to remember which button was the 'on' button... Curse humans and their fiddly devices. He pressed a few before finally finding it. How did GIR manage to do this every day?! The current channel was still on the one that GIR had been watching this morning. The Angry Monkey Show.

'Irk no!' Zim thought and quickly pressed on the button which said 'Channel Up'. This channel was showing a show on cooking cheese pizzas... 'Nope, too many bad memories,' he mentally whined. Channel Up. No. Channel Up... NO! Ugh... Humans had the worst concept of 'entertainment'... Soon Zim was flicking through more channels than he could actually see. The TV was becoming just a brief flash of different shows... Zim sighed... "Dib-worm, do you want to try and find a decent show?" Zim asked, disappointed at his first try of 'switching channels'.


	7. Chapter 7

Dib chuckled when he saw his Irken friend fiddling angrily with the remote buttons. Picture after picture from different channels was rushing through the goggle-box. Just crap. So he took the offered remote and started his own search. Man, they were definitively way too much channels available. Dib watched each show a few seconds, instead of Zim's hasty method of switching without really looking at them.

Policy Talks...urgh, no way. Cooking shows… lame. An Animal Documentation? Hmm. He glazed over at Zim. He stared bored at the TV, arms crossed. 'Heh. Zim You're so cute sometimes...', he thought and continued his search. Number 82 was seen on the screen...number 122...really annoying. 138...139...140...141...Wait! Hmm, seemed to be a movie about...umm two buddies, as kids. They laid beside each other on the wooden floor of the house of kid no.1, which was currently telling the other creepy stuff about zombies haunting little children and un-dead teachers at their Skool, walking around at night time around the city streets and doing...stuff. The other kid gasped there and then, frantically looking around with wide eyes in the empty bedroom, while his friend was laughing at him. Dib had a satisfied expression written all over his face. He loved movies like that. Simple and with innocent children in it. Sure, it wasn't some expensive blockbuster with blood and death screams, but it was... kinda plausible, with normal kids in it. Dib glanced back at Zim. The Irken got an attentive and curious face, with a slightly open mouth. This seemed to peak Zim's interest too.

"Hey. Looks like I finally found something good we both like to watch."

Zim couldn't help but be slightly annoyed at how the human had been able to find a decent channel. The show was about two friends; they just seemed to be talking. Maybe GIR was right about TV being more of a useful researcher than the computer, since this was basically what Zim had been looking for down in his lab. 'So this is what human friends do'... He thought, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... Dib-human, what are they actually doing?" Zim asked once he'd heard the human speak. He didn't exactly see the point of a show when they were just talking. But, it was better than the usual garbage that was on. Maybe if GIR watched more things like this, instead of just staring at a brain-dead monkey, he'd might actually be able to hold a conversation instead of the little robot screaming about 'dancing with the tacos' every so often... Heh, the boy telling all the spooky stories kind of reminded him of Dib, constantly trying to get others to see the 'truth of the world'.

"Oh. That's normal for kids or humans around my age, Zim. It's called a 'sleep-over'. That's often performed between two good friends at one of their homes, mostly on holidays or weekends so they can be up all night. During that they're usually telling each other horror stories or other creepy stuff or playing 'Truth or Dare'". Surely Zim would ask for that too. But Dib hoped he wouldn't have to explain that. Zim was often so clueless; cute but sometimes...embarrassing. Dib never got a sleep-over before, he just knew about it from TV or hearing at Skool. With whom would Dib do this anyway? No friends, no sleep-overs... Suddenly Dib froze. Wait a minute... He DOES have a friend now. Zim! Yeah. It's still an odd though to image doing something like that with him. But hey, so much never-thought-of stuff happened today! And... actually, Dib felt kinda excited thinking about him and Zim, staying up all night, laughing and telling spooky stuff. The Irken probably knows many stories about his very own space adventures. True stories.

Zim let the information sink in before responding. Sleep-over... Something else to put in the report for the Tallest. The idea kind of sounded like fun. He carried on watching the TV for a few moments, now the two friends in the show were both laughing, not AT each other, but WITH each other. They also seemed to be lying in what looked like large caterpillars... Eww... "Oh, have you ever had a 'sleep-over' Dib-worm?" Zim asked, saying the words 'sleep-over' quite slow, since he wasn't quite used to having to say it.

"Well, n-not really." Dib looked down ashamed. "I never had a friend...before, so there wasn't the chance to do such things. I'm a loser, so I guess nobody wanted me to be his friend...until now." His smile came back when he glanced at Zim again, still holding his hand and playing nervously with the aliens three fingers.

The invader frowned slightly. "The Dib-worm is no loser," Zim stated. "You are actually a lot smarter than most humans." He added, giving the boys hand a small squeeze. 'Stupid Earth worms, they don't deserve the Dib as a friend anyway. They're all too stupid...' That's when Zim got another idea. "Hey Dib-thing, could we have an Earth 'sleep-over'?" He asked, smiling slightly. This'd prove to the human that he was neither a loner nor a loser.

Dib smiled widely at him for the sincere compliment. He still was getting used to such statements… coming from Zim. But every time he heard such nice words, it warmed his heart. He could have squealed out of joy for Zim's efforts to be a good friend. He totally succeeded. "Y-You really think so? Because, sometimes I think they're right about me being insane. But you know what? You, Zim, you're the one who knows me best. So if you say I'm smarter, and NOT crazy or plain insane...it must be true. It seems you are able to see me better than I do. That's pretty cool." Out of a strange urge he lifted his hand along with Zim's up to his cheek and nuzzled the green, soft palm. All the while watching Zim's expression. He himself was blushing madly. "A-And about the sleep-over. I was debating if I should ask you the same thing. It sounds awesome! I would like a sleep-over here although it's surely kinda creepy here at night. And with GIR running around...Heh. Creepy." His eyes felt half-lidded and enjoyed the warm, silky feeling of Zim's hand on his face.

When the human boy lifted up Zim's hand, Zim couldn't help but blush ever so slightly. The human's face felt really warm, but he guessed that was from him also blushing.

"Heh, you really like my hand, don't you Dib-friend?" Zim teased. "And as for the 'sleep-over', yeah, it'll be fun. But this place isn't that creepy, well for me at least. GIR will probably stay in the kitchen, but he may come to check on us." Zim admitted. Yeah, GIR would be pretty creepy with all his randomness. Zim honestly didn't know where the little robot got all his energy. He once found GIR in his lab, with both of his arms missing... He didn't even have to ask, since he saw the power amplifier at full power and some of its cables tangled up... Yep... that little insane bot could be pretty creepy some times.

"Hmm...? Y-yeah. Your hands... are very nice to feel. And I love just holding it for a while and...f-feel your oddly soft skin. Heh. If that's not creepy. But you don't seem to mind. By the way, I also really like your new nickname for me. 'Dib-Friend'... Sounds way better than the old insults you usually attached to my name. And - dare I say it? - it's really cute when you say it. You're always smiling when you use this name." He said it somewhat teasing and winked at Zim.

Zim practically froze once Dib had said that. 'Again with the word Kyuute!?' He thought. And when he saw human wink at him, he could feel his face starting to burn. Stupid human! "Human, Zim has told you before, I am not kyuute!" Zim mumbled, feeling mega embarrassed by now. It was humiliating for an Irken solider to be called 'cute' by anyone. They were only meant to be feared. But, Zim didn't mind it so much when it came from Dib.

Dib flinched slightly when he saw the dark green colour all over Zim's alien face. Did he go too far...again? He just said he was cute, quite a big compliment, in Dibs mind. "Z-Zim. Is that bothering you that much? I'm sorry... I didn't know it would be such a big deal. I-I just see you that way sometimes. But I guess I should stop calling you that. It didn't was meant as an insult, quite the opposite." Dib grabbed Zim's free hand and intertwined their fingers to emphasize his words. "Hey, just a little teasing. C'mon, Zim." He said in a playful manner.

Zim sighed slightly, "I know, but Irken soldiers are meant to be feared by everyone." He grumbled. Zim knew that he overreacts about quite a lot of things. Even his Tallest had told him that. "But..." Zim looked down at his lap, "I don't mind it too much when you say it," he quickly mumbled. He then quickly decided to change the attitude of the conversation. "And you fail miserably at teasing, Dib-friend," Zim pointed out, not meanly, more jokingly than anything.

At the "old times" -back when they were fighting- Zim was actually feared...by Dib. But he wasn't sure if he could admit that now. Maybe it was a good idea to fed Zim's pride a bit. Surely the Irken would like that, feared by his (old) nemesis. "Well, you know Zim. Now that you mention it. During our fights, you were sometimes really scary. When you yelled at me, pointing strange alien devices at me and throwing death threats at me" He shuddered at the memory. The image of Zim, towering above him while he was laying on the soil. That evil smirk of Zim along with his narrowed eyes, glaring down at the poor human boy... "Z-Zim, you can truly be terrifying! At least, you were." He said with a soft and slightly shaking voice but quickly changed to an amused tone "But today you're mostly overly cute. Especially, when I'm playing with your antennas... And there's no reason to deny that, Zimmy."

The first part of what Dib was saying really made Zim's ego rise. "Yes yes, Zim is most terrifying," he grinned. At least the human boy acknowledged his efforts. Not many other people, Irkens or Humans, actually took the time to show gratitude towards his plans. He felt quite pleased with himself. But when he heard the last part, his confidence shot down. He groaned at being reminded. Stupid human... stupid antennae... Wait, what did the human call him? He blushed at that name. He knew the human was half joking, but he still felt embarrassed.

Dib knew Zim would "like" that new nickname. Zimmy. Heh. He should use it more often from now on, because he liked to see Zim blushing. Makes him all the cuter... "Sure you are, Zim. Sooo...what about that sleep-over-thingy now? The movie has already ended and I'm kinda tired anyway. Today was all really stressful, I'm worn out. But mostly in a good way. Thanks to you, Zimmy. You really made my day!" He smiled warmly at him and dropped Zim's hand from his face into his lap.

Zim decided to just brush off that nickname. "Ok, but where are we going to do it?" He looked over to the kitchen to see GIR still shoving waffles down the pig's throat... Well that room was off limits to anyone that still wanted to be able to breath at the end of the day... The lab, even to Zim, was pretty creepy at night, so no. He reached over to pick up the remote, and pressed the same button he pressed to turn it on. This time, it turned off. "Is my room ok for the sleep-over Dib-friend?" Zim asked.

"Y-Yeah. We could use the same room as before where we, ya' know...c-cuddled." Dib immediately flared up, he couldn't help himself, it WAS a kind of cuddling, right? And so nice too. "So if that's your room, it would be the best choice. We would be undisturbed and got a comfy bed there and-" Dib had a dreamy face, but suddenly snapped out of that train of thoughts. His eyes snapped wide open.

"I-I mean only if you got no sleeping bags... a-and...we would have to... umm..." He pressed his eyes tightly shut. Oh boy, that was embarrassing. "Zim, this shouldn't have sounded so...seducing. There was no intention… I just meant to... ARGHHH. N-Never mind, Zim. Forget it." Did he mess up the situation again? Of course, he thought.


	8. Chapter 8

Zim was slightly confused by the humans struggle to say those sentences, must be a human thing... 'Sleeping bags?' He thought. What were those…? Were they those caterpillar looking things? Well, whatever they were, he didn't have them… That means they'd have to share. Hopefully that would be a problem for the human. "No, I don't have 'sleeping bags'. So I guess we'll have to share my bed. That's not a problem is it human?" Zim asked. He didn't see why it would be a problem though. But the human boy may find it slightly uncomfortable sharing with his ex-enemy. He stood up from the couch, and gestured for the other to follow him. He didn't want him getting lost, again.

Oh boy, Dib expected that. It wasn't really a surprise that Zim don't have such things; maybe even don't know what it was. For what he would need sleeping bags anyway? Zim was almost always at his base and never took part at class trips. Hell, Dib wasn't even sure if Irkens sleep anyway. In all this years, Dib never saw a sleeping Zim, not even taking a short nap during class. But maybe because he saw him mostly daytime. If not, they were fighting. But now...Dib was in his base. Invited. At Night. And...they would have to share a bed! His already red face lit up like a Christmas tree light bulb. He usually sleeps in only his underwear, while Zim would... Would he wear some too? Or getting fully clothed into bed? Hard to tell, since Zim was an alien. Dib never thought he would share a bed with his former enemy! Sure, they were friends now, but wasn't that too much for friends? Wasn't that a privilege for...for lovers? All this weird thoughts ran across Dibs big head. He looked at Zim and saw that he was waiting for an answer, starting to get worried why the human is not answering. 'Come on, Dib! He's waiting. Look. There's no problem with that. Just...try it. You're the one with weird thoughts here, not him! He's clueless in that matter. Just take the chance to get along with Zim and spending some nice time.' His brain sounded like a wise buddy. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that.

"S-Sure, Zim. There's no problem with that. Let's...share a b-bed. I just hope it's big enough for two persons, ya' know for stretching in sleep...and...maybe some making-out or-". Dib froze on the spot and stood in front of Zim, with wide eyes and the reddest head in the town.

Once he'd heard the other boy speak, Zim turned his head to look at the human. But it felt like he was looking at a tomato... He could hardly see any of the boys normal skin colour, his entire face was practically neon red. And his eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of his head... He also seemed to look very tense... He knew that the idea of the human sharing a bed with his old nemesis would be an uncomfortable thought for him, but he didn't think it'd be that uncomfortable...

"Yes, it's quite big enough for two..." Zim stated clearly... Was the human that worried about being near him? That couldn't be it... Since earlier the human seemed to quite enjoy being around him. But who wouldn't after all? He was the amazing Zim! And anyone should be honoured to be anywhere near him- 'Off topic,' Zim thought. Shame... he quite enjoyed his mental rants. But now he was thinking about what the human had said... 'Making-out'? What on Irk was that? It must be a bad thing, or the human wouldn't be looking like he'd eaten 100 chilli peppers... But then why would the Dib have said it? "What's 'making-out'?" He decided to ask.

"Zim. It...It slipped out! By accident. I don't know why. S-Sometimes I can't control what I'm saying. It wasn't meant as...well...ummm..." Suddenly his throat felt dry. He really tried to justify himself. But it didn't seem to disturb the alien all too much. Instead he just asked what the word meant. Well, now he needed to explain it to Zim...

Dib coughed a few times before speaking (or rather stuttering) "O-Okay, Zim. What I said -'making-out'- is a v-very intimate action between two people. It involves t-touching...all o-over the others body, especially at... s-sensitive parts to get...ummm...a-aroused or just...just for p-pleasure. As far as I know. I-I never did that stuff...with another being." That sounded suspicious. For sure. Dib got no intention to explain the concept of masturbation to Zim. Hell, this situation right now was embarrassing enough. Why was he telling ZIM such things? An alien. A male one. His former nemesis. It was so surreal. But... Dib couldn't help to be quite excited about the forthcoming event. Lying in the same bed... with Zim. Cuddling with him again. A warm feeling streamed down his spine. "Oh, yeah. W-What we did before, in your room. All that...c-cuddling and hand-holding. That was...sort of...m-making-out. A prestige. But it can be w-way more... intense and...Good." He looked at his feet with heavy-lidded eyes and a goofy grin on his face. He just couldn't help it. This will be fun. Zim was now probably thinking the worst, looking at him like he was crazy and pervy.

Zim couldn't help but take a step back, after the human had explained that... So he had... They had... He suddenly felt quite awkward. Well, at the very least they hadn't done the 'intense' version... Ugh. 'Humans and their ways,' He thought. He was also glad that there was nothing like that on Irk. Zim's eyes narrowed, "Well there will be NONE of that at this 'sleep-over'," He ordered. There was no way that he was going to do that with anyone... and no way with a human!

"I'm guessing friends don't usually do that?" Zim asked, getting his curiosity back. There were still many things he did not know about the humans, and he wasn't sure he exactly wanted to know either... But, it was his mission to conquer AND research this planet for his Tallest. He eventually took a look at the other boys face... and he couldn't help but feel quite uneasy at the sight... The human looked awkward, granted, but he also kind of looked like he was planning something... And Zim didn't like that idea.

When his friend took a small step back (he saw Zim's feet out of the corner of his eyes) and denied any further making-out, Dib was plain disappointed. Of course Zim would say that, maybe grossed at the very thought of it. For a moment Dib was scared that Zim wouldn't' allow any touches anymore. Gasp. 'No! It was so nice to be with him down there. Just calmly holding someone close... A friend... Zim.' He didn't want to fuck up his new and first friendship. But... Zim didn't explode at him, yelled or even got louder. Maybe he wasn't mad at Dib at all. And he surely enjoyed their last 'nuzzling-session' before. As much as Dib did...And again, his brain was telling him stuff. So Dib decided to show Zim some more human interactions. Hey, Zim was just clueless about that topic. Even more than Dib himself. And sooo curious. So he could 'teach' Zim a bit. He was sure the Irken will like it, some making-out. To not scare the Irken too much, he played along. He looked back at Zim with a (hopefully) blank expression. Dibs 'other side', the more extrovert one finally took over his brain. He was determined.

"You're right. Friends don't usually do that. So let's get to your room and set up everything."

The invader was more than relieved when that expression left Dib's face. He nodded at the boys suggestion and made his way to the elevator, gesturing to the boy to follow him. What would they actually need for the sleep-over? On the movie the two boys just seemed to sit there, so he was sure they wouldn't need much, but he had been wrong about things before. Once they were both in the elevator, he pressed a button and the elevator made its way down to the lower levels. Zim sighed slightly at how slow it was moving... And it didn't help that the elevator was only designed for one person (and maybe even a small SIR unit) to fit inside, so they were both forced to be more near each other than was in their comfort zone... well, Zim's at least. And their previous conversation didn't help the moment either... With that thought in his head, Zim felt his face heat up slightly, but he ignored it and looked at the wall. It suddenly seemed to have become more interesting than usual, but, then again, it could have been that he didn't want to look at the human and make the moment more awkward than it already was. "So, what is needed for a sleep-over anyway Dib-friend?"

When the boy followed his Irken friend to the elevator, his gaze was automatically drawn to Zim's hips. He never saw how well formed they were. And his butt... like a small perfectly rounded, soft cushion. And when Zim walked. Man. Such a dainty dait. Zim got curves! When he followed him to the elevator Dib got a smug smile on his lips, and he didn't mind if Zim would see it. It was quite tight in there. And Dib was glad for that. He looked over to the alien and saw his flushed face. Zim avoided his gaze. Heh. He needed to make him less embarrassed. "Hey, Zim," he said in a reassuring voice and grabbed his (still un-gloved) hand. "Don't be nervous. It's a normal human activity, this sleep-over. It will be fun! You'll see. We can tell creepy stories and eating snacks and...Just laugh. Being together." Although Dib have never actually experienced a sleep-over before he thought it would be like that and tried to make Zim palatable to the idea. "If you got something edible in your base, we can eat that, but we don't need to. I'm not really hungry at the moment. Just a bit tired."

"Who said I was nervous?" Zim snapped. To be honest with himself, yes, he was slightly nervous, but he would not admit that to a human! But when the human grabbed his hand, he felt slightly better. 'Stupid human...' He mentally whined. Hmm... Creepy stories... He didn't know any of those, but he was sure he'd be able to come up with a few. His antennae perked up a bit at the mention of snacks. If there's one thing Irkens are known for, it's their love for snacks. "I do have a few Irken and human snacks," Zim explained. The only reason why he actually owned human food was because GIR absolutely loved it. Zim himself hated it... Not only for its taste, but its side effects to him. Zim shuddered at the memory of his first time eating human food... He was snapped out of his thoughts when the elevator made a noise which signalled they were there. The doors opened and Zim led the human to his room. "But I'm not sure if you'll be able to handle Irken food." He added. Seeing what Earth food did to him, the same thing would probably happen if the human ate any food from Irk...

"Whoa. I'm just sayin'. Heh. You look...funny when you're blushing, Zim." He smiled warmly at him, then walked ahead and kept Zim's hand like a treasure, squeezed it and played with the aliens fingers. Now it was a whim of him. Dib sat on the bed (the same spot where he was before). "Okay. If you want, you can bring your Irken snacks. I could try it too. I'm sure there will be some yummy stuff among it. And if you find some human food, you could get me a bit too?" He released Zim's hand, so the other could fetch some snacks for them.

Zim just nodded and made his way back to the elevator. He pressed a button and the elevator made its way back up to the main level. It was only when he reached there and the doors opened, he realized he'd taken orders from a human! Zim growled to himself slightly, but shook it off. After all, it was for the sake of the sleep-over-thingy. Once he'd come out of the elevator, he looked to the table and saw GIR sitting there now hugging his toy pig. Zim smiled slightly but it soon disappeared when he saw the state of the kitchen... There was exploded waffle everywhere, syrup on the walls and floor, and the fridge had fallen over...One of Zim's eyes twitched a bit. He made his way over to robot.

"GIR! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" He screeched. He wondered how on Irk such a small robot could make such a mess. But all GIR could do was smile a grin at him, then make his way to the couch, and turned on the TV... "You stupid robot!" He turned back around to see the chaos... He'd have to clean it up later... He made his way to the now tipped over fridge. He opened it and brought out several Irken and human snacks. He shut the door and made his way to the cupboard. He took out a few more. He scanned over them. Doughnuts, Crisps, and Soda for the human. And for himself, a little container which looked a lot like fundip, a few doughnuts, but with a Irken recipe, and salty lemonade. That seemed to be the only Earth drink that didn't kill his Squeedlyspooch. With that lot in hand, he made his way into the elevator, and back to the human.

Gazing after Zim until the door closed, Dib crawled onto the bed and inspected it. On his knees he rummaged around. A widespread thin wool blanked. Very soft. He sniffed it. Smelled like chocolate. Dib smirked. Surely GIR washed it along with his plush piggies and his doggy costume. The robot was actually quite familiar with human household stuff. He imagined GIR baking his "famous" waffles and all kinds of strange, rarely edible cakes. Zim was probably the one who cleaned up all the mess afterwards. But washing and cooking wasn't his case. The boy was strangely fond of the little robot minion. He just hoped he wouldn't interrupt their sleep-over, especially when Dib was showing Zim some 'human interactions' which 'friends don't usually do'. Yeah, that will be fun... Dib lifted the blanked and began to rub his hands on the mattress. Hmm. A strange jelly-like material, but not too soft. Maybe water...? Wait! Zim got a WATER bed on his room, without knowing it? Probably GIRs idea. That scared Dib some. The thought of Zim, lying on a bed which is filled with a lethal liquid... He shuddered. Otherwise, such a bed wouldn't just burst like a balloon. It must be actually quite sturdy. So, in all honest it's not really a big problem. Still...should he tell Zim? Surely he would never ever use this bed. And this means no sleep-over for them. Slightly frowning he laid onto his back, gazing on the ceiling, full of wires and machinery and pondered.

The journey back to his room was most difficult, especially since he had to balance all the snacks so they wouldn't fall onto the floor. Once he arrived back though, he pushed open the door with his foot and made his way in. He saw the human lying down, so made his way over to him. He dumped the snacks next to the human, and arranged them so one half was Irken food, and the other human food. "Ok human, Zim has brought up human and Irken doughnuts, Earth sodas, Earth crisps, and Irken powder stick." He explained, pointing the each different food item as he said them. He just hoped the human actually liked the stuff he'd brought, because he'd hate to have to go back into that mess of a kitchen again. Who knows what GIR could have done to it this time...

Dib was so deep in thinking that he didn't notice the Irken entering the room. A loud rustling and clicking along with a bump beside him took him back. "Wha-? Oh. Wow, Zim. That's a lot of snacks." He rummaged through the small pile but most of it was Irken food, which he never saw before. Jelly cubes with strange looking beads in it, green sticks and thin plates, like cookies but bright red. He picked up a small soft and furry ball and placed it in his palm, sniffing it. Hmm. Smelled lightly like metal. Dib took a tiny bite and chewed it. His face lit up. "That's yummy. Really. It tastes like...like liquorice. Munching, he ate the rest of the ball and searched for another alien snack to try, while his pile of human snacks stayed untouched. It seemed he forgot Zim was in the room, standing beside the bed with an amused smirk.

Zim just watched the human dig into the snacks. It seemed he enjoyed the Irken food more than he did the human food. Zim had actually been kind of worried that they may give him a side effect of some sort, but he seemed just fine. He couldn't help but giggle at the human's curiosity for Irken food. "Heh, you seem to be enjoying yourself there Dib-human," Zim teased, sitting next to the human, watching him trying to find a new food.

Dib looked up from his snacks. "Hmm? Yeah. It tastes great, Zim. Thanks for that." Some green sauce was running down from his mouth but he didn't notice. Suddenly he was aware of his actions. "Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have so greedy. I almost left no snacks for you." The pile was indeed reduced to a few sticks and balls here and there. Dib didn't know he ate that much so fast. He wasn't really hungry at all, but it tasted sooo delicious, so he stuffed his belly full of yummy Irken snacks. He shoved the small amount of food left over to Zim and sat close beside him, wanting him to eat too.


	9. Chapter 9

Zim looked down at the small pile of snacks left, and then back up to Dib. "It's ok human, I'm not hungry anyway," he assured. He then noticed some of the food running down the other boys face. Zim had to hold back his laughter at that. "Dib-friend, you have sauce on your face." He then reached up a hand and started wiping away the stuff, before wiping his hand on his shirt. He still didn't like the thought of all the germs that may have been in the sauce... But oh well. "You can have the rest of the snacks human, you seem to enjoy them quite a lot," he teased, giving the human a slight smirk.

"Hmm? Sauce?" Dib gulped some snacks down. 'Must be from that odd jelly cubes' he mused. Indeed, they were filled with that green sauce. Before he could, Zim was already cleaning his mouth with one swift motion. He noticed Zim's amused voice and grinned too. "Heh, I wonder where it came from. Ya' know, it's green and..." He tried it with a small joke. It just popped up in his mind. Did it sound too...weird? Maybe. But Dib found it funny. "And yes, this stuff is delicious. There isn't anything like that on Earth. Your race seems to really like sweets and salty snacks. Some of them actually tasted both at the same time." He licked his lips and lazily rummaged through the few left snacks beside Zim, all the while glancing to the Irken.

"Yep, we most currently do. In fact, we have a planet, near Irk, which is just one massive food planet. It's called Foodcourtia. It sells all sorts from snacks to 4 course meals. I worked there for a while, the Tallest said they'd banished me, but Zim knows they were merely testing my loyalty." Zim explained. He himself hated Foodcourtia, it stank of burnt fries and doughnuts... Ugh. But it was probably the most visited planet, since it did do some pretty good food sometimes... Not often, but sometimes it might surprise you. Zim was slightly confused by Dib's statement... "It came from the snacks of course human." He stated. Or was it meant to be a joke...? Zim forced a slight laugh, just in case.

The boy snatched one of these thin black chip-thingies and took a bite. It crumbled like a potato chip but tasted kinda very sour. "Nom...A whole planet just for making food. And only junk food? That's...heh...a hilarious idea. Irkens are really, hmm...interesting, yeah. And I would totally visit it, if they make food this". He pointed to the snacks on the bed and took another bite of the large chip-like thing. "I just hope it won't have any negative side effects on me, since I ate a whole lot of that stuff. But, in honesty I actually feel quite better now." He gulped the last piece and shoved the rest of the snacks away from them. Suddenly a smug smile was on Dibs lips as he said: "And for the joke: I knew you wouldn't catch it. Hehe. You're just too clueless sometimes, Zim." While saying that, he slowly scooted closer to Zim and stretched both of his long legs on his sides, almost trapping the alien between them; his hand on them.

Zim could only nod in agreement at the boy's opinion of Foodcourtia being 'hilarious'. It was pretty stupid, especially since they could have used that planet for something more interesting or useful, like an elite training ground, or weapon research facility. But then again, who was he to question the almighty Tallest? Zim had also been thinking about the snacks side effects to the human. Since if human food affected the invader in such a manner, then maybe Irken food would have the same horrible effects on the human. But, he was relieved to hear that the human was feeling fine. "Tomorrow I'll take you to the lab and get the computer to work up something to fix your ribs, human," Zim explained. That was when he noticed the human getting closer. Zim whipped his head around to face the human, eyes narrowing. "What are you doing Dib-worm?" He asked, in an almost accusing manner.

"Okay. Now that you mention it, I almost forgot about my ribs." He cautiously grabbed at his chest, feeling it at different areas. It slightly stung and ached at some of them. He flinched. Ouch. "You're right. Your technology surely would help. But let's not worry about that now." Dib banned all thoughts of his ribs from his head. Tonight, he just wanted to have a good time with Zim... Who was maybe getting uncomfortable with Dibs closeness, so would have to explain that. "Zim, I just want to have a good time with you. With this sleep-over. And...I want to be near you, yeah. What do you think? We could do that cuddling like before. With the hand-holding and all that stuff..." Dib tried to tempt Zim to do that again. By the way his friend was leaning against his chest before and...Purred, he knew Zim enjoyed it very much. Dib laid his hands before him, between his legs and showed his open palms. Hoping to persuade Zim to cuddle with him again.

Zim eyed the other's hands suspiciously for a moment, before turning to look at the human again. "But you said friends don't do that kind of thing..." Now he was confused again... First of all the human tells him that friends doing that kind of thing is wrong, but now he was saying that he wanted to do it again. But he had enjoyed it last time and when he looked up at the human's face, he saw a slight hint of disappointment, which the invader didn't like to see, so he leant back against the human again, the same way he had before. He just hoped the human wouldn't mind this time though. He looked at the humans open palms, and subconsciously reached out and grabbed hold of one of the others hands.

When Zim leaned against his chest, the light pain instantly transformed into a warm, good aching feeling and his heart beat very fast. His face lit up with pure joy and his golden-amber eyes sparkled with...lust. His hand tingled when Zim grabbed it. Again Dib intertwined their fingers -3 and 5, strange but fitting- and tightly squeezed Zim's. Now it was all over for Dib. Zim was so cute like this! The boy raised his free hand and gently rubbed Zim's back in an attempt to calm him down. His Irken friend was leaning against his chest sideways, staring ahead.

To begin with, he was kind of anxious of 'cuddling' again, with the human, since he had explained that friends didn't do this, but when Zim felt the human start to rub his back, he nearly instantly relaxed. He let out a small content sigh. For some reason, this 'cuddling' with Dib made Zim feel the most relaxed he had in a long time... Usually he'd be stressed out about coming up with ideas for world domination, or thinking of the next report to give to the Tallest, but when he was with the human... especially now, he felt like he didn't want to be anywhere else but there. When the invader felt the human squeeze his hand, this time he squeezed the others hand back, to sort of say that he was happy with this 'cuddling'.

When Dib heard the sigh from the alien, he smiled widely. "See, Zim? It isn't too bad, that cuddling. I really, really like it right now." Maybe it was time for some creepy stories. Although Dib didn't know of any in this moment. So he tried to spontaneous create one. Something about Halloween, yeah. Zim would "like" that. He changed his voice into a deep and quiet whispering. "Ya' know, Zim. I've recently heard something interesting. Before you came to Earth and built your strange green house here, right around this place, around your hose, there was an old children graveyard. For decades, all children who were murdered or died by horrible diseases and accidents were buried in the earth. Normal houses over the earth are fine, but YOU -with your underground base- disturbed all their peace in death. You dug too far into the very soil. And now they're hunting you. That's the reason why all those scary, costumed kids are after you on every Halloween. Zombies who are trying to eat your BRAIN! Your brain, Zim! Full of death-germs. And you know what? I can even hear them now, in this very moment, Zim! Their groaning... and howls underneath the earth, surrounding your base." Dib tried to sound scared at the last part. Honestly, he thought it was kinda lame but surely Zim would believe that stuff. And...maybe clinging to him out of fear. He liked that absurd notion. The 'almighty' Zim, truly scared and searching the protective warmness of Dib's body. "Hmm, nice." He absently mumbled.

Once the invader heard Dib, he couldn't help but nod in agreement again, but once he heard the human start to say something about graveyards, murders and deaths... his relaxed mind immediately left, and was replaced by a slight hint of fear... Zim was now on full alert as the story continued... Checking every corner of the room for any signs of movement... 'No, I am an Irken invader! I am scared of nothing!' He thought... not completely convinced by his mental advice... but oh well. He wasn't exactly scared at first, but when the story continued even more, then... then was when he was starting to get scared! "...Zim doesn't like this story," he mumbled, squeezing the other boys hand slightly tighter. But once the story had gotten onto about zombies, and them eating his brain... that was when the invader lost it. He let go of the human's hand and now grabbed his entire arm, holding it to his chest, in sort of a defensive way. There was no way a zombie was going to eat HIS brains! Then suddenly, he heard a crashing kind of noise coming from the main level (probably GIR, but he didn't know that). Zim quickly turned around and grabbed Dib's torso, not enough to hurt his ribs, but quite tight all the same. "ZIM DOESN'T WANT TO DIE!" He screeched, burying his face into the boy's shirt, shaking slightly.

'Whoooo… Zim is REALLY scared. Wow' Dib was truly surprised, that his little story got such a strong effect on the normally so dominant and proud Irken. But he didn't complain. Hell, this was way more than he had expected! Zim was hugging him so desperate! Dib happily hugged back and squeezed the whole Irken even tighter; ignoring the small pangs of pain in his chest...Zim was worth it. So with a soft but determined voice he spoke: "Zim. You surely won't die. Because you got me! Your new friend. No zombies will ever get you or your brain as long as I'm here with you. They're avoiding me. Like a zombie-killer. Yeah. I won't accept any harm to you. I'm your 'Dib-Friend', remember?" He spoke. Dib really cared for the trembling little alien in his arms and he wanted him to know that. Their former enemyship seemed years ago and the very thought of their fighting in the past almost vanished completely out of his head. He rubbed Zim's hand along with his back in small reassuring circles and kneaded them a bit to let the Irken relax more in his arms. "You won't die, Zim. Heh. Trust me", he whispered and rested his chin on top of Zim's bold head, between his antennas.

Zim could feel the human hug him back, and he felt slightly safer then, but the boy's story was still floating around in his head... He heard Dib's words of reassurance, saying that he was safe when he was around, so Zim's only solution to the problem was- "Then the Dib cannot go!" He declared, holding onto him tighter. "If you go... the zombies will get me, and my brain! And Zim's brain is far too important to get eaten!" He added, not caring what the human thought at that moment in time, all he cared about was that those zombies kept away from him (even if there weren't any to begin with). If the human left, then the zombies wouldn't have anyone to avoid... Zim was really starting to panic, but when the taller boy started to rub his back and hand, he felt himself relax slightly. He lessened his grip around the human's torso, but still kept his guard up. 'After all... zombies could be anywhere... waiting for Dib-friend to leave...'

Dib got a wide smug grin on his face, while his eyes were half closed. It promised to be a very interesting sleep-over. It was far from his mind to pressurize Zim, hell no. But Dib enjoyed this clingy and scared Zim way too much to not play with him a little bit. It was too funny and also really intriguing how much Zim's behaviour changed. He felt safe with Dib and that was in the end all that matters. Dib wanted to develop a small amount of trust between them. "I won't go anywhere this night, Zim. It's a sleep-over and I will protect you during that." An amused chuckle. "Promised. I will not leave your side." He assured Zim again and blew some warm air against both of his antennas. They twitched. 'Heh, cute', he mused.


	10. Chapter 10

When Zim felt the warm air against his antennae, he couldn't help but nuzzle his face into the other boy's torso more, trying to get away from the feeling. It was a nice feeling, but it made him so out of it, which he didn't like. But it was quite tricky to get away from the pleasant feeling since the other boys massive head was still on top of his own. Suddenly, he remembered something else the boy had mentioned earlier.

"Dib-friend? What is that 'truth or dare' you mentioned earlier?" He asked, trying to keep his mind of those 'zombies' and the feeling in his antenna.

Almost sleeping on the alien's head, Dibs eyes snapped open when he heard 'Truth or Dare'. Right. He mentioned it before. He already forgot. Surprising that Zim still remembers that. He's not really the person which keeps such memories. And he's not even a person! But Dib was glad that Zim asked. This seems to be the perfect game for this moment...

"Heh. Well, Zim It's actually a party game for a small group of people. The person, who is on, asks another player the simple question 'Truth or Dare'." Dib got very curious now what would Zim choose first and smiled like a goof, still calmly breathing against these delicate feelers. "If you choose 'Truth' you have to answer the question which the person in turn is asking you. Of course, it must be a true answer or...or the zombies will eventually get you and your BRAIN. And if you choose 'Dare' you must do everything what the person in turn demands from you. Well, nothing impossible or too disturbing. But still...everything. If you deny, ya' know...Zombies! Simple as that." Dib began to knead Zim's back a bit harder now, wanting to calm him down. "It's actually a very funny game. Challenging too...Heh. From what I have heard; I just played it a few times with Gaz as a child. What do you think about it, Zim? We could have sooo much fun." Now the boy was really fond of that idea. He would use this chance to feed his curiosity and learn so much more about his new alien friend.

"Sounds fun, well... apart from the zombie part," he admitted. There was kind of a game like that on Irk, but if you disobeyed, you got disintegrated. But, this version sounded a lot better. And it sounded like something that friends seemed to do, so that'd be ok. Plus, he could have sworn that the two boys in the movie played something involving the words 'truth or dare'. When he felt even more air on his antenna, he tried to move them away from the cause of it, but it didn't help much. And when the human boy started to his back slightly harder, he felt himself melt against the boy, more relaxed than before. "Could we play this 'truth or dare' then Dib-human?" He asked, knowing that the human wanted to play it too.

'That's the right answer, Zim'. His smile grew even wider. "Yeah, of course. I would like it. Especially with an alien...Heh. There's so much I will ask you. Horrible stuff..." And with that he tickled Zim's sides with both of his hands. The alien was still sitting between his lanky legs, curled like a ball. "So, let's start then. Truth or Dare, Zim?" He said, tickling him a bit more.

Once the human had asked him, Zim thought for a minute. He didn't trust the human so much that he'd choose dare first time, so he decided against it. "Truth," he announced. But when he felt the human tickle him, he tried to suppress his laughter, he tried to swat away the others hands, since he didn't want to laugh in case the 'zombies' heard his voice, and decided not to avoid the human, and just come after his brains anyway.

Hmm. Dib made a somewhat confused face. Obviously Zim didn't want to laugh. But he wanted to hear some Irken laugh. So he tried it harder while he was thinking of a good first question. Not hard to find. "How old are you exactly. Ya' know, in Earth years. I guess you're pretty... rich of lifetime." Dib imagined him as a very experienced soldier in his race; already travelled though half of the universe and visited sooo many foreign planets with the most alien creatures you can ever imagine and stuff...

Zim thought about that question, he knew how old in Irken, obviously, but Earth years, not so much.

"I guess, 167 Earth years, but in Irken years, 16. So, around the same age as you Dib-friend." That was when he really couldn't control his laughter, 'curse this human and his tickling,' he mentally whined. He starting off giggling slightly, but after a while, he was full out laughing, but not his usual evil laughter, for a change. "Dib-human! Stop your tickling!" He shouted, trying to grab the human's hands to stop all the tickling. Once he'd finally got a hold of them, he put both of his hands onto the human's pair, intertwining their fingers, like before, knowing the human would like it.

Dibs brain sucked the information, like a big neurotic sponge. 'Wooow. He's so old. But looks like a teenager. So he must be one in his race. But still: Wow.' And when he heard Zim laughing he couldn't help but laugh too. So, for a few seconds they both were just laughing together, not caring about zombies and their hunger for brains (there weren't even any, just GIR). Just enjoying the others company. Well, it didn't last long when Dib suddenly felt both of his hands grabbed by Zim. His loud laugh reduced to a small giggling when he looked at their fingers, neatly tangled together. Zim knew that Dib liked that a lot. "Heh. Now you got me, Zim. You found the best way to stop my tickling, to keep my hands...occupied." He blushed a bit at that. By the way: Zim was VERY ticklish. Good to know. "Soooo, it's your turn, Zim. You know the rules."

The invader nodded. Yep, there would be no more tickling, well, so he hoped.

"Truth or dare, Dib-friend?" He asked, already thinking of different questions or dares to ask the human if he chose either. He was still half getting his breath back from the laughing fit he'd just had, the human had seemed to enjoy it too, since he laughed as well. Zim smiled slightly at that, they seemed to be developing a good 'friendship' so far.

Dib wanted to have some fun and he thought of himself that he was indeed kinda boring, even for an alien. Who wanted to know anything from Dibs life? So he decided to pick 'Dare', all too curious what Zim would demand and hoping it wouldn't hurt. "Okay. I guess I'll take 'Dare'. C'mon, spaceboy. I'm prepared for your task." He smiled evilly at Zim and squeezed his hands again.

Zim thought about this for a while, all the dares he could come up with were either impossible for a human, or would probably end up killing himself by accident... Hmm, then Zim suddenly got it! It wasn't exactly a challenge, but it was the best he could come up with. "Ok then human. I dare you, to go up to the main level, and ask GIR if you can join the tea party with his pig." He knew that GIR would be more than happy to have an 'extra guest'. Zim giggled at the thought of GIR being insane, as usual, but the human having to be there to witness it. He squeezed the human's hands back, to show that he meant business. Oh, how he would enjoy this. And so will GIR, having another 'guest'... well, victim is the more accurate way of putting it. But then he remembered... The 'zombies'. Zim shuddered, "B-but I should go with you. You know, to make sure that you actually do it," he quickly added.

Shocking. Dib tensed and involuntary gripped for Zim's quite tight. Oh boy. That was a really hard quest. 'Zim can be quite cunning...' He gave the Irken a pleading look, trying to squirm free from his task but when he felt Zim squeezing his hands one last time and saw his stern face... Dib knew he needed to get this over with. No way out now. So he wordless stood up from the bed and walked to the door. Without knowing, he still held one of Zim's hands all the while. So they both made their way to the elevator, hand-holding and rubbing the others hand from time to time. It wasn't planned by Dib. He just needed to make sure that Zim was still beside him, not wanting to face GIR all alone.

Zim couldn't help but giggle slightly at how the taller boy tensed at the mention of his challenge. Yep... GIR could be quite dangerous when he was happy, so this could be quite funny to watch. But he'd have to keep in mind that Dib's ribs were still broken, so he'd have to stay alert for the little robot going to hug the boy. On the walk there, Zim kept checking behind him and jumping slightly at even the tiniest of noises. Every open door they past, he just kept having to quickly check it for any signs of movement... 'Those zombies could be anywhere,' he thought. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea... But the Dib was here, so they'd have to stay away. Subconsciously, Zim edged slightly closer to the human. But once they were in the elevator, he let out a sigh of relief. Yep, no zombie was going to get HIS brain!

While in the elevator, Dib just kept looking at their hands and the longer he stared he more he sure that he could face GIR and even attend to his 'tea party' with his pig. Hopefully without any harm. The door opened with a small 'whoosh' and revealed the living room...with GIR in the centre! He was sitting at a miniature table (probable stolen from a kindergarten) with some tea cups and a tiny can on it. On the other side sat a piglet. A real one. It was tied up on the chair and oinked, surely scared for his life. Dib froze completely on the spot, after he made one step out of the elevator. He frantically gripped for Zim's hand, although he was already clutching it. His hands got sweaty and he coughed a few times, trying to say something before he went to his task.

"Come on Dib-human, you can do it,"

Zim whispered once they had arrived on the main level, "He's just a robot." He assured. But to be honest... GIR wasn't just any robot; he was an insane, maniacal robot. Irk... GIR looked like he was holding that pig for ransom, or even going to rip it apart if it made one wrong move. Zim turned and looked up at Dib, he looked scared to death. Well, who could blame him? Suddenly a horrible high pitched noise was heard; he quickly looked at the direction it was coming from. GIR had spotted them...

"MAAAARRYYYY! YOU'RE BACK!"

Dib just flinched and was now on full alert. Not like last time, when Zim rescued him. "You will pay for that, Zim..." he mumbled to the alien, half-jokingly but kinda pissed. Then he put on the best fake smile he could muster in that situation, stretched out his arms (sadly letting go of Zim's hand in the process) and spoke with a loud voice, trying to sound happy to see GIR. "Hey GIR, old buddy! Haven't seen you in a while. I wanna play the tea party with you-" He gulped and looked at the piglet "- a-and that pig friend of yours. How's that sounds?" he walked over to the empty third chair on the table and sat. On it, Crouching and smelling something like...coffee and melted chocolate. Well, at least the drinks were normal ones. GIR just giggled insanely at the boy and filled a cup for him. Dib quickly turned around and gave Zim a last pleading, pathetic look.

All the time that this was going on, Zim was nearly crying from holding back his laughter. Man this was a fun game! He knew the human would get him back for this, but oh well. It was worth it. But when the human gave him a pleading look, he knew that he REALLY didn't want to be here. Zim to the rescue he guessed. He started walking towards the table. "Ok GIR, thank you for giving the Dib-worm a 'lovely' memory, but he really must be going..." He tried. He knew GIR wouldn't be too happy about that. "BUT WE HAVEN'T EVEN HAD CUPCAKES YET!" He heard GIR yell. He grimaced at the almost painful high pitched voice... The Irken grabbed Dib's hand and made a quick dash for the elevator, yelling back to the robot, "Maybe next time GIR!" Once they were back in the elevator, he burst out laughing. "Irk! You should have seen your face Dib-friend!" He wished that the human would have kept his nerve slightly longer, that moment was just pure gold. He'd have to dare him something like that again in the future. But when he looked up at the human, he didn't seem at all pleased...

Dib mentally prepared himself for some insane 'small talk' and overly hot chocolate. He heard Zim's voice and in the next moment was already in the elevator again. He looked around confused. Oh. Zim saved him...again. Well, it was his stupid idea all along. He let out a relieved sigh and frowned when he heard his friend laughing. He looked up.

"Very funny, Zim! But...but if you would have to do this...you-"Giggling."-Would...haha...screaming and...-" Laughing. "-mwhahaha...begging for your life...and-" Dib burst into full laugher, just as the Irken did. When he thought about it, it was indeed a stupid idea. So damn hilarious and scary, but still... Now it was all a big joke. A good one. And watching Zim laughing so hard wasn't helping. All he knew was that evil chuckling and screaming coming from that alien mouth. But now...Zim was just happy. And that made Dib happy too. Laughing his ass off with his Irken friend. "W-Well, Zim... that was great. But also the last time...haha I did this. Never again." He playfully punched him in the belly and held on the wall, while the elevator descended into their lair.

When the elevator reached their destination, Zim made his way out, followed by the human. "Yes, Zim is a master of comedy." He announced proudly, head held high. "But seriously though, your face! It looked like you were going to be eaten alive!" He giggled. He knew that GIR could be dangerous at the worst of times, but that was just plain funny. Yeah, it was another one of his stupid ideas, but this time he didn't seem to mind, in fact he found it most amusing. When they both reached Zim's room, the invader sat back down on the side of the bed. "Your turn human."

The fooled boy followed Zim the room and sat on 'their' bed, close beside Zim. He already got some pretty good Truths and Dares for this little green alien. 'Yeah, that would be good. And...that one too! Oh, this is too mean. Heh. Maybe later...' Again there was that evil playful smile on his face. So many possibilities. Whoo. "Hehe. Yeees." He scooted closer to Zim, their faces just inches apart. "Truth or Dare, Zim!" He whispered.


	11. Chapter 11

Zim felt quite uncomfortable about the fact that their faces weren't very far apart. Plus, the slight evil smirk and tone in the other boy's voice wasn't helping the matter. If the human could choose 'dare', so could he! The problem was, he didn't like to think about what the human would make him do, after all, he had given him quite a horrible task. Well, anything that involved GIR was horrible anyway. "Uh, dare..." he finally decided, knowing it'd be a boring game if all he chose was 'truth'.

Dib hoped for that answer. It wasn't really a hard task he chose, he just thought it was funny to see how Zim would perform with it. "Ooookay, Zim. Heh. Hahaha-" He couldn't help but laugh -"Z-Zim, I want you to...sing. Yeah, SING something about me. Maybe what you like about me or what annoys you. Heheheh. Please. You chose 'Dare' and there's no turning back, spaceboy." He drew back for Zim and sat cross-legged on the far end of the bed, snickering all the while.

"B-but... Zim can't sing!" He protested. But then he remembered what the human had said earlier when mentioning the rules of Truth or Dare, about the zombies. Zim gulped... He didn't know many songs so he didn't know many rhythms either. Something about Dib... Hmm. He looked down at his lap, blushing immensely. He could do this... If he could survive Operation Impending Doom 1, then he could sing for the human. He just had to make words rhyme... Easy, right? He started, but it was more of a mumble.

"Dib-worm, you're such a pain... forcing me to use my brain, to come up with a song for you... but Zim shall pull though." He paused for a moment to think of something else. "The human's head is so very big, and your manners are that of a pig... But you're my Dib-friend, and I'll stick with you until the end..." He could feel his blush increasing by the second... Wow that song sucked... He covered his face with his hands. "That was really bad... wasn't it?" He whined. Never again would he do that, since he sucked at being nice, and he also sucked at singing. He knew if he had heard someone sing something as bad as that, he'd probably just put them out of their misery.

As Dib sat there he really believed Zim would try to sneak out of the task to sing with all his might. But when he indeed heard the Irken actually singing! Dib fell backwards of surprise and quickly used his hands as support. Never ever thought the boy he would hear Zim sing, even if it was more of a mumble. And about him! Something nice too! So he just stared at Zim who was sitting before him and blushed like crazy. His face got darker and darker with each passing second while at the same time Dib's eyes got wider and wider along with his smile. Hell, it even got a rhyme in it. When Zim ended his little Dib-Song, he fiercely clapped his hands, giving the Irken his well-deserved applause. He tried to whistle too, but failed miserably. "WHOOOO; ZIM! That was incredible. I mean, honestly. It was reealllly good. I didn't know you could sing. And your voice is nice to hear when you do." He blushed a bit at that. It reminded him of Zim's purring. Somewhat alluring and oddly relaxing. "See, it wasn't as bad. You even said nice stuff...about me. I liked it. And my head's not big! It never was and will never will be, spaceboy." He pouted in a jokingly manner, but quickly smiled again after a moment. "But the part with the pig was funny. Heh. I can live with that I guess." Now he remembered about the last part...'Dib-Friend'...'stick until the end'. Dibs face got redder with each word in his mind, just like Zim before. He couldn't help it. That was sooo damn cute! And it sounded so true...so sincere when Zim sang it. It was adorable. Did he really think about Dib that way? But...it's a mutual feeling. Dib became kinda serious.

"Zim. Thank you very, very much. Really." He crawled to Zim and gave him a tight hug without warning and squeezed him. No ribs could prevent that. "I will always remember that song. That's the nicest and cu-" Oh. Better not saying that word aloud again. "-nicest thing someone made for me." He hoped it didn't sounded too mushy. "Heh. And maybe you could continue it in the future...we'll see." He released Zim from his grip and looked back at him, showing his Tomato-Dib face in full bloom.

Zim immediately looked up when he heard Dib applauding, mouth hanging open slightly. He honestly thought his song was rubbish, but if the human had liked it, then that was fine. He smiled at that. But when Dib hugged him, it felt like his spine was about to snap, but this time he didn't mind, even though it was slightly embarrassing. "Heh... There is no way I'm going to be doing that again Dib-human, that is for sure," he admitted. "And your head isn't THAT big, but it was all I could think of at the time," he also pointed out, poking Dib on the head slightly to get his point across. "Now Dib-friend, Truth or Dare?"

Looking at Zim's poking finger, Dib smiled warmly at that gesture, squinting a bit. "Yeah. It's got the right size." Looking back at Zim he said: "And we'll see if that was the last song you ever sang." That smug smile again... "Anyhow, I guess you already came up with some cruel ideas for both cases. But I'm more curious what you would ask me, so...Truth." And poked Zim in the middle of the face, where his nose would be.

When he heard the human almost threaten him about singing again, he gave him a glare. No way was he doing that again. And when the human poked him back, he rubbed the same place that the other had to get rid of the tingly feeling that was now there. Hmm, good questions to ask the human. Well, he knew most things about him. So, it'd have to be something he didn't already know. There was this one question that he'd heard a group of boys ask someone, and it seemed to make them quite embarrassed, so he decided to go with that, since he wanted to have revenge on the human for making him sing. He didn't know what it meant exactly, but it was worth asking. "Have you ever had a 'crush' on anyone?" He asked. He didn't know what a 'crush' was... He always thought it was just something you did when you compress something into a flat shape... Must be a human thing.

Dibs smile immediately turned into a shocked frozen face. It was just a matter of time until something like that would have been asked. And he thought that Zim knew what a crush was. Otherwise Dib surely would have tried to tell something else, nothing concerning a crush. But now he felt kinda trapped. He has to say the truth, no matter what. Sure, it was just a game but rules were rules. Zim did the same with his singing, so it wouldn't be fair at all to lie now. The 'problem' was that yesterday Dib would have answered that question with 'no'. But today...it was an unsure 'yes'. It was Zim... Since he helped Dib to get better after the attack from Torque in Skool and brought him to his base...and especially after they had cuddled and all that stuff... Well, since then Dib felt quite odd. It was a good aching in his heart and a tingling squeeze in his belly. He tried to ignore it first, but the longer this Truth or Dare lasted the more he felt that stuff. '...friends don't usually do this...' Those few words floated in the back of Dib's (normal sized) head for a while now. And when Zim asked this particular question, Dib realized it. He got a slight crush on Zim! Spaceboy. His alien friend. Still he sat there, cross-legged and frozen until he finally formed some words.

"A c-crush..? Well, to be honest...Yes. I-I got a crush at the moment. A-And it's...it's...umm...it's you, Zim. Yeah...I g-got a crush on you..." He avoided Zim's eyes at all costs when he said that. Oh boy. That was the most embarrassing moment today...even in his life! By now...

"Oh," was all Zim could manage. He thought about it for a moment, if the human had a 'crush' on him, 'crush' must mean friend then, right? Or did it mean hate... But, they were friends now, so it couldn't mean that. Or, what if the human actually really did hate him still, but the human wouldn't have been so nice recently. Zim suddenly felt mega dizzy from all the thoughts rolling round his head. So, he shook his head for a moment to clear his mind. "So, 'crush' means friend, right?" Zim asked, curious of yet another discovery of another Earth word. He edged closer to the human, who seemed super tensed up, and was blushing like a tomato again. He put his hand in the other boy's hand, and squeezed it for reassurance. It must be a big deal, or the human wouldn't have responded in such a way. "Zim's sorry..." He mumbled. 'Irk, that was difficult to say, especially to a human!' "I just heard some people at Skool ask someone, and it seemed to embarrass them, and Zim just thought it'd be payback for making me sing," he admitted. He suddenly felt guilty for making the human so awkward.

Zim's hand in his own... If there was one thing that would lessen the awkwardness in this moment, it would be that. And there it was. That intima and reassuring squeeze of the others hand. It slowly calmed him down. Like nothing else. Dib defrosted again and smiled at their two hands and began his rubbing on Zim's hand again. Over his bony fingers and knuckles. How often did they do this hand-holding today? Quite often. But it felt better every time. It was still so new to the boy and it was hard to imagine to ever getting accustomed to it. Good. While he spoke Dib kept his gaze on Zim's 3 unique fingers and smiled dreamily at them. "Yeah, in some way it means friends, Zim. That's right. But there is more to that. To have a crush. It also stands for something more than being friends, involving strong feelings of...of affection and fondness. Hard to explain, ya' know. Since I didn't have a crush before. And now...it's you. Heh. Funny." Dib wasn't nearly as embarrassed as before just seconds ago. And it wasn't really a surprise that Zim was didn't know the meaning of a 'crush'. He just overhears words like that and asking stupid questions without even knowing the content. But Dib found it hilarious in Zim's very own way. Clueless and overzealous. Exotic. Unique. Zim. Who said sorry to him!? "There's no need to apologize, Zim. Oddly, it was kinda refreshing, relieving to answer that. A really good question." That smirk again. "But just wait for my ones...hehe."

Zim just nodded, sort of saying that he understood what the human had said. But when the human mentioned about his questions, Zim couldn't help but narrow his eyes in suspicion. But he just shook it off. "Ok human, your go again." He looked over at the time (Earth time); it now read 11:05pm. Wow, they'd been playing for that long? Oh well, the human couldn't go in to Skool tomorrow because of his ribs anyway, and they were going down to the lab to fix them. So it didn't matter so much, even though Zim himself was starting to feel kind of tired... He felt himself starting to lean against the human's shoulder, but quickly straightened himself back up.

"Okay then. Truth or Dare, Zimmy?" Dib chuckled, liking to use that name from time to time. But he stopped when he felt Zim leaning against him, just for a moment. He then also looked at the clock, realizing how very tired he was. And when he looked back to Zim he bet the Irken as sleepy too. Well, it was a quite eventful day after all. The game held Dib awake by now. "You're looking tired. S-So I guess that's my last turn for today...before going to sleep...in the bed...together..." The very image of him, lying beside Zim and probably almost unclothed was...odd. Tempting. That tingling warm ache in his heart called back, this time rather strong. Well, Dibs face was already red and this Tomato-blush surely wouldn't go away for the next hours... Sleeping of course. Yeah. Even in his sleep. "Y-You can lean against me, if y-you want, Zim. Maybe it helps you to sleep. I bet...it's very relaxing. I like it... when you do that." So Dib stretched out his arms, offering Zim himself as a nice, warm human pillow. "But make your choice first."

Once again, Zim blushed at the nickname. Curse the human and his nicknames, but he nodded and leant up against the human. Zim kind of wanted to do another dare, but he was too tired for that, so he just decided to choose the easier option. "Truth," he decided on. He liked leaning against the human, and didn't especially want to move, but he knew he'd have to later on, but for now, he was just enjoying the moment. He felt a sudden warm, knotting kind of feeling in his Squeedlyspooch, but ignored it.

"Hmm..." The boy let out a content sigh. Zim's warm alien body against him. Slowly Dib drifted into a light slumber, embraced Zim and pressed him to his chest. He didn't mind the pain from the ribs. The good, tingling feeling, caused by Zim's closeness was way stronger than every pain he could feel now. In his current half-asleep state of mind, Dib mumbled his question: "Do you trust me, Zim? I wanna...show you somethin' but I need your trust for that. I promise I don't want to harm you."


	12. Chapter 12

The invader thought about the question for a moment. Well, he trusted the human enough to be in his base, have a sleep-over with him, and call him his friend, so yeah, he guessed he did. "Yes I trust you Dib-friend," he nodded. He very much enjoyed spending time with the human now, which was quite a surprise to him, a nice surprise, but a surprise none-the-less. He looked up at the taller boy, who seemed to be falling asleep.

This answer quite roused Dib. He didn't want to sleep now. This day since he was with Zim was so very nice and peaceful. And this moment was the perfect one. "Good. I'm glad to hear that." The boy curled around Zim some more and carefully slid his right hand under the hem of Zim's shirt while he was rubbing his other hand to keep him calm. "Don't be scared, Zim." His fingertips very lightly brushed the skin underneath and glided over Zim's belly. Whilst Dib looked at their hands on the sheets for any sign from Zim, since he wasn't able to look him directly into the other's eyes.

Zim immediately tensed when he felt the other boy's hand go under his shirt, and his eyes instantly went from half-lidded to wide open. His mind went nearly completely blank, as he just stared down at the floor. The human had said that he didn't want to hurt him, so nothing bad was going to happen... right? He felt his blush intense greatly. "W-What are you doing Dib-human?" He asked, not wanting to anger the human, but at least get some information on what the Irk he was doing... It didn't feel bad; it felt kind of nice, like when the human had touched his antennae... He felt what seemed like electricity go down his spine again, which made him shudder ever so slightly.

Enjoying the feel of Zim's slightly cooler skin, Dib closed his eyes. It was almost surreal soft, like a new-born's skin. Like velvet, even more than Zim's hands. But when he heard his questions, along with that shaky voice his eyes opened again and now he had to look into these elusively magenta orbs. To reassure Zim more. Hand-holding and close eye contact would do it.

"Z-Zim. I just wanted to... f-feel some more of your skin. And since you enjoy our hand-holding so much I-I thought you would like that too. T-To feel my hand somewhere else." With that said, Dib pressed his palm against Zim's flat belly and used only his fingers to rub them ever so slightly against that green alien skin. "A-And you remember what I told you...about that 'crush'. Well...I guess that's a part of it too. I am tempted t-to...touch you more and longer. I-I never felt happier like for these moments, when you are so...c-close to me, leaning against me."

Dib didn't really realized what he was saying. This was just his heart speaking, his brain probably would never say stuff like that. But it seemed, the longer this being-with-Zim lasted the more his brain took a backseat. At least the rational side of it. Like earlier in the living room, Dib 'other side' was more and more present now.

Once the human's eyes had finally met his, he felt slightly better. He just felt slightly nervous, since nothing like this had happened to him before. But, he actually quite enjoyed it. And when he heard the human speak, and his voice was also stuttering, he knew that the human was also kind of nervous. "Well, it feels nice human," he admitted. He could feel himself beginning to lightly purr again, but this time he just let it happen, since the human had already heard it before.

The human's hands were slightly warmer than his own average temperature; he guessed that humans had a higher standard temperature rate to Irkens. But then, something suddenly came to his mind, something the human had said before... 'Friends don't usually do this'... So, he looked back up at the other boy. "Zim thought you said friends don't usually d-do this," he mumbled. He didn't mind of course, he just wanted answers.

There was Zim's purring again...Hmm. Dib waited for it, to hear that unique sound again. This time it made him kinda...aroused. But instead of being shocked he gladly let it happen. The purr vibrated on his chest and reverberated in his head. It sang. And it means that Zim was also enjoying it. He didn't feel uncomfortable or disgusted by the boy's curiosity and need. And that was the best thing about it. Their mutual feeling. Maybe Zim would get a crush on him too someday. But right now, Dib was just happy to be with the Irken...and touch him here and there.

"Yeah. Friends usually don't do this. But...maybe we're not normal friends, Zim. Special ones." Surely Zim would ask further what that means, but I was hard enough for Dib himself to explain. "Just don't worry about that. If it feels good...then it's right to do it I guess. Hmm Zim. Don't stop purring..."

Zim let the information sink in, so, they were special friends? Sounded odd, but not in a bad way. Yeah, he liked the sound of that. Better than just 'friends' at least. After a while, he started to feel more and more relaxed. Maybe a little too relaxed, since he could feel himself starting to go into a state of half-unconsciousness, well what did he expect? It was quite late at night, and it had been a while since he'd actually felt relaxed enough to be able to fall asleep, but he tried to keep himself alert, so he could spend more time with the human, and the moment they were having. Boy, he hated to think of what the Tallest would do or say if they ever found out about any of this... But this wasn't any of their business... And if they knew what they were missing out on, he was sure they'd change their minds about this kind of thing being 'wrong' and 'forbidden'.

When he heard no further question from his Irken friend Dib took this as a good sign. Surely Zim liked the thought of being 'special'. Yeah. That would suit the Spaceboy. Heh. Zim was practically melting against him... So he stretched out his lanky legs out and wrapped them around Zim's slim form and pressed him even closer to his tingling body. He saw his left antenna hanging limply down the side of his green head. 'He really must be damn relaxed', he mused. He released Zim's tummy and drew his hand to that precious stalk, gently lifting it. It slightly twitched, so he began to stroke it with 3 of his fingers -like a tailor, feeling a new piece of cloth.

The invader was nearly asleep, but immediately became alert again when he felt the human wrap his legs around him. But when he noticed it was only that, he went to shut his eyes again, but was stopped when he felt the other boy's hand on his antenna. Almost instantly, he got that 'pillow-in-your-head' kind of feeling again. He then rested his head on the taller boy's torso, since he felt like he couldn't hold it up any longer, because it felt like it was suddenly getting mega heavy, or that could have just been him. He then squeezed Dib's hand slightly, as a sign that it was a nice feeling. The only bad thing was that he felt like nothing more than a rag doll, since his brain seemed to quit thinking properly when his antenna were being touched.

"Heh. That feels good, right?" From the way Zim's head was resting against his chest and the hand-squeezing he could tell that he immensely enjoyed Dibs hand on his feeler. Further his fingers got, right to the feathery tip. His very fingertips massaged it. When he stroked against the grain, Dib felt every little feather or flake on the tip. "Mmmmm..." Dib sighed out.

All Zim could do was nod, since when he tried to speak, his words were all slurred and unintelligible. Yes, it felt amazing, but he felt so useless, just sitting there while the human continued to touch him. But what else could he do? He didn't know how to do this to the human, all he knew was how to hurt or injure him... He'd probably just end up hurting the other if he tried to do the same as what the human was doing to him. So, he decided to improvise. He lifted up the hand which was intertwined with the human's, and brought up it up so the other's arm was on his chest, and started to hug it. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing he thought.

When Zim moved his hand out of his, Dib almost feared the worst and opened his eyes. No. Zim wasn't rejecting him. Instead he...hugged his arm. It was adorable. Obviously Zim didn't know any kind of affection or non-hurtful touches. But Dib knew Zim was still trying to express his good feelings he received. His heart warmed at that sight and he smiled lovingly at his cute alien friend who was clutching to his arm, like it was a precious thing to lose. As a reaction, Dib pinched the tip now and then between his rubbings, he lifted their connected hands to his cheek and gently rubbed Zim's one against his overheated cheek, relinquish the cooling sensation.

Zim couldn't help but make some types of unintelligible noises at the back of his throat when he felt the human pinch the tip of his antenna. And when Dib moved his hand up to the boy's face, he noticed how warm it was. He looked up and saw that the boy was in fact blushing slightly himself. After a while, Zim started to feel quite uncomfortable from leaning with his back to the human's torso, since his Pak was digging into his back, and he thought it may be causing the human some discomfort too, so he decided to switch to leaning against the other boy but on his side this time, nuzzling his face into the taller boy's shirt, before mumbling: "Zim's tired." He knew that the human probably already knew that fact, but he just wanted to say it himself.

The aliens hand sadly left his face when Zim turned around. But this way it was much more comfy. This strange backpack on his back was causing some pain but Dib didn't complain. It was worth it. Now Zim was practically lying on him! On his Dib-Friend. Still purring slightly. Dib squished the whole Irken and tightly wrapped his legs behind his back, pressing their hips together. Zim mumbled some stuff. Probably how good that all felt. Yeah. The last thing was intelligible. Of course he was tired. Quite an eventful day. Dib was already half-asleep himself. "Hmm. Okay, Z-Zim. We can...um... sleep now if you want. S-Should we stay like this? It's okay for me...t-to just sit here with you the whole night. Actually it's a veeryy comfy position to sleep I think..." Dib tried to speak clear, but he was dizzy with happy warm feelings of pure joy.

When Dib pushed their hips together, another bolt of electricity made its way down Zim's spine. He wrapped his arms around the other boy's torso, to say that he was comfy. Zim nodded again to answer the human's question. To be honest, he hadn't had a good night sleep in a while, so he hardly had enough energy to speak without it getting all messed up. And he knew that if the human was there he'd probably have a decent night sleep at least. Plus, the 'zombies' would stay away. Zim smiled at that. Yeah, 'zombies stay away,' he thought. He would have laughed if he'd had the energy, but no. He'd have thought he was going crazy if he had thought he'd fall asleep in-front of the human before they became friends, but now he was happy too. Ever so slowly, the invader's world faded out to black, still feeling the warmth radiating from the human boy.

Zim slumped against his chest and the purring got quieter and quieter. And after a few more minutes it faded completely. Heh... Dib never saw him sleep. Zim began to snort very lightly, which was cute too. Like the whole Irken right now. His breathing was a bit faster than his own human one. Dib watched the small chest rise and fall in a steady pace some minutes and laid his head on Zim's while his right hand fell from the antenna down to his side. The last thing he saw was Zim's constant smile before he finally drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep himself.


	13. Chapter 13

Slowly, the Irken started to open his eyes. He felt so much better than he did the day before; it was probably the fact that he actually had a decent night sleep. He also felt extremely comfy, so decided to shut his eyes for a while longer, but after a while, he felt a movement close to him... he himself hadn't moved. Then, he heard a quiet groan. His eyes snapped open, and saw a sleeping human beside him, it was the Dib. He was about to start yelling about stuff such as 'how did you get in my base?' But, then he remembered the day before. Broken ribs, sleep-over, cuddling, friends. Oh... it all came back to him now. He smiled at the sight of the sleeping human. He looked so calm. The invader decided to wait for the human to wake up by himself, but also decided to stay cuddled up beside him; after all, the other boy was still asleep and wouldn't notice. He looked over at the (Earth) time, 9:19am. Well, they were already late for Skool, so why bother? He was going to try and fix the human's ribs later anyway.

The human boy Dib emerged from the caressing clouds of his extensive sleep. Whoosh. But he didn't open his eyes. Instead he groaned a bit and shifted in his spot. "Nyaah..." He mumbled somewhat annoyed. He felt so lovingly calm and well rested in this moment, so of course he didn't intend to get up yet. He pressed that slightly cooler thing to his chest, already sensing who it was. He smiled. Ziiimm... hmm. "My soft alien pillow. Yeah..." Dib smacked his lips and took a deep breath through his small nose, taking in Zim's faint scent.

When the taller being pulled him to his chest and spoke, he started to question whether he was actually asleep or just pretending... But he didn't mind, if the human chose to rest a while longer, that was fine with him, and he got to spend more 'cuddly' moments with the other boy too. A win, win situation. But the invader wanted to know if he was really asleep, they boy could have just been talking in his sleep, but then again, maybe not. And he was certainly no pillow! So he wriggled one of his arms free from the human's grip and started poking the boy on his nose. If he was asleep he'd do nothing, if not, he knew Dib would react in some way or another. "Dib-human, Zim is no pillow," he mumbled, slightly offended by the boy's statement, but not speaking too loudly just in-case the boy was in fact asleep after all.

Lifting his left eye-lid, Dib looked at Zim. So he heard his mumbling? How long was he already awake? Never mind. The best part for Dib was that his alien buddy was still cuddling with him! So he WAS a pillow after all. A green and squishy one. Taking in Zim's slumped, curled form, the boy mustered him a few seconds. "Hmm. As I see it, you are a pillow right now...Zimmy." He chuckled and rubbed his nose with the right hand. His left one was neatly tucked behind the Irken's back, gently rubbing it with his thumb. "You can poke me as long as you want. There's no way to change that. Heh. Unless, you get up from the bed and won't cuddle anymore." Dib was sure Zim wanted to cuddle some more too and just leave it at being his extraterrestrial pillow.

"Hmph... you humans are so annoying," Zim grumbled, blushing slightly from the nickname again... No, he didn't want to stop cuddling, but he didn't like being a pillow either... But if he had to choose between the two, he'd choose the pillow option. He didn't usually like letting the human think he'd 'won', but this time he'd make an exception. Since, for a change, it was a nice moment between the two of them, they didn't give each other death threats anymore, they were more jokingly teasing. And Zim liked that much better.

That grumbling was amusing Dib all the more. "Oh, Zim. Haha... Be happy again. You're actually the world's best pillow. And I wouldn't want to change you for any other one." It sounded jokingly but was also so very true. Zim was HIS alien. Now he finally got a real friend, and such an awesome one! He unintentionally squeezed Zim tighter to himself. With these thoughts, a somewhat possessive trait got active. Dib never felt that way but didn't really notice it yet... "Aaaand...I'm your tall human couch, see?" He lightly tapped on his chest to confirm his words.

Zim nodded at that last part, "Yes, you belong to Zim," he mumbled. Indeed, he was Zim's friend, his human, his old enemy, and now his couch... He couldn't help but giggle at that thought. After all these years, no-one really paid any attention to the human... Their loss, his gain. He got to have an enemy, and now a friend. And he wasn't planning on sharing neither. Zim snuggled into the human a bit more, before speaking. "How are your ribs today anyway human?"

Now that his ribs were mentioned he indeed felt a small pang in his chest. Yes. The ribs there were still cracked; hopefully not fractured. But wouldn't he feel a much stronger pain if they were? Or were the painkillers from the yesterday still working? He hoped not... He didn't feel drugged or even dizzy. Just plain content with lying here...as Zim's couch. Yeah, nice job actually. "Not really; I mean there's just a slight ache right here from time to time." He rubbed his upper chest, where his lungs were located underneath. "But sometimes...it's getting quite intense, just for a short moment. Ya' know, like a swift kick." The longer he spoke about it, the more he realized this.

At hearing about the human feeling quite intense pains from time to time, Zim immediately started to panic. So much, which made him sit up straight and turn around to look at the other boy. "Do you want me to fix your ribs now then?" He asked, worried about the human's health now. If the pain was near his lungs, and if his ribs were broken, they could maybe puncture them! Zim really started to panic now... If the humans lungs got punctured then that means he'd be seriously injured, and it'd be his fault for not fixing them sooner... But he waited for the human to respond before getting to action with going down to his lab. He started fiddling with his own fingers from worrying, he just hoped the human would agree to the offer... He would have to say that he was disappointed that they didn't get to cuddle more, but the human's health was more important.

Zim's question was simple. But, along with the clear worry in his voice and the sudden movement, it surprised Dib. It seemed that Zim really cared for his well-being... This caused a soft pressing, warm feeling in his chest. And every time this happened (which was quite a lot last night...), the pain vanished immediately. But Dib wasn't so careless to deny Zim's request because of that! It would be very stupid. There could be an infection, or it could lodge itself into his lungs anytime! Like a punctured one... Probably Zim knew all this. Yeah, he already wanted to fix his ribs yesterday. Hell, wasn't it the original reason why Dib was in his base? But they both quickly got distracted...by each other... He was slightly blushing again when all this nice pictures and feelings popped up in his mind. He smiled for a second, before a sharp pang made itself felt. Kick. "Ooouch! O-Okay, okay...You're right, Zim. Let's get to your lab or something and, and fix this... this shit." Dib stretched a bit and slid on his legs to the end of the bed, where the door was. He then looked back at Zim and tried to smile at him. "D-Don't worry. We can continue to cuddle after it's done." His face stayed slightly reddish.

With that, the Irken nodded and made his way out of the door, motioning to the human to follow. There were two ways that he could fix the human's ribs, one was painless, but slow, and the other was painful yet quick. He'd had first-hand experience at how painful the quick one could be... He shuddered at that memory. "Which would you prefer? Quick and painful, or slow and painless? I'd suggest the slow one, since the quick one is hell." He explained. Yeah, the slow one was way better, since you only had to drink this liquid-thingy that the computer could make, which makes your natural healing process quicker, whilst the fast one was a little mini drill that goes through your skin tissue and rebuilds the needed organ/bone in question manually... most painful, but only takes 1 hour, whilst the other takes around 36 hours. Once they reached the elevator, he waited for an answer from the human.

While he followed Zim through halls and corridors (the ones where he got lost last time...); the very idea of an incoming infection of his ribs -slowly taking over his lungs and stomach  
And... ughh...other vital organs- was making him sweat. Suddenly he feared the worst. A permanent palsy. Destroyed organs. Lifelong medicine dependence. Dib let out a small scream. "Oh, god no! Zim! We...I want... I mean, Could you make that quick one? I prefer that. I'm scared that it will get worse if my ribs are... like this any longer. Surely I can handle the pain of the operation, even if I'm not sure what that could possibly be. And anyway… arghh-" Pain again. Damn. "-y-you can give me some anaesthetics...right?" Honestly, he wasn't sure if it wouldn't be too much pain for him. When Zim's saying 'painful', it must be really bad. Really, really bad. But did he really TRUST Zim enough to let him play the doctor...or even the surgeon? Sure, he wanted to fix his ribs; still...there was a tiny voice in Dibs head. A voice which warned him not to trust the alien too much, especially when it to do with his body. He tried to shut it up. No! Zim was his friend now; there was no doubt...right? 'Damn, curse this doubts. Stupid head. Do as I say, and let him do it', Dib mentally argued with his brain again.


	14. Chapter 14

Zim jumped slightly when he heard the human scream, so much so that he was about to press the emergency stop on the elevator, since he thought the human had injured himself in some way. "Are you sure human? It feels like you're being shot... But if that's the option you want to choose, I won't stop you from making that decision." He said, raising his hands slightly in defence, to show that he wasn't lying, and that the human could trust him. "And as for anaesthetics, uhh... heh... No, Zim doesn't have any..." He admitted, dropping his gaze down to the floor.

No anaesthetics? Oh boy... Should he really do that? After all, there was a lot risk with such an operation. And he would feel it all. Would he even stay conscious?

But strangely, Dib was more scared about long-term effects of Zim's 'accelerating-healing-process-medicine'. Sure, he took some alien painkillers before, but that was somewhat different. Another voice in his head (yeah, Dib got many of them in there), deported him to take that stuff and just endure some pain for a few minutes. Anyhow, Dib decided to stay with his choice of the painful procedure. 'I guess, one way or another, I must trust him. He's my friend now. He won't harm me intentionally.' Right after he thought that, a rather powerful kick of pain shot inside of his chest. "OOOOH! SHIT, SHIT! WHAT THE-". He fell down to his knees before Zim, holding his belly.

"Z-Z-Ziiiim...it's is in...my stomach. T-The...the pain goes through my belly. IT HURTS! NO. NO! Please...do something." He deeply breathed in and out... Suddenly a fluid and searing wave made its way through his body and up his gullet. Before Dib was able to say a word or keep his mouth closed, all his gastric juices burst out of his mouth and spilled on the metal floor.

When the Irken saw all this, it was only then it actually hit him how serious this all was... The human could die if he didn't do something... His mind, sight and hearing went black for a moment or so, just staring at the boy, who was currently on the ground. He shook his head. NO! The human was NOT going to die! He backed up slightly when Dib emptied his stomach onto the elevator floor though... He waited for the boy to calm down slightly before deciding to do anything. He side-stepped the mess which was now on his floor... Another job for him later...

"Ok... Uh, Dib-human? Should I carry you the rest of the way?" He asked, not wanting to put any extra stress on the boy, he was injured enough as it was. Walking far distances would only make it worse. He felt so guilty; it was his fault... his fault that he hadn't helped the human sooner. He mentally slapped himself. When they arrived at their destination, the doors opened, relieving the lab. He looked down at the human, who was gripping his stomach. Without even getting an answer, he carefully put his arms around the boy's torso and under his legs, picking him up bridal style, and made his way into the lab.

All Dib could do was groan when Zim carried him. But beside the pain he felt something else... an odd shield of comfort and safety radiating from Zim. His alien arms tucked under his knees and back brought him the assurance that everything will be okay in the end. Zim would fix him. Yes. He knew what he was doing. A high-tech alien. With all kinds of Irken machinery we humans would call 'magic'. Besides the pain which was still floating in his entire body now, a smile formed on the boy's lips.

'Trust Zim. Trust Zim. Trust Zim. He will heal you. Yeah'. He unintentionally snuggled closer to Zim's chest.

Once they arrived at the part of the lab which had all the equipment in, Zim gently lowered Dib down onto an examination table. Once he was sure the human wouldn't fall off, he made his way to his draw which held all the medical machinery. Scalpel, no. Torch, no. Weird-tube-thing... no. Eventually, he found it. A little mini drill looking thing. Small as a coin, but very powerful. It was grey, and had little robotic legs coming from its sides. 4 on each. Looked kind of like an Earth spider, but one with a drill on the end. He made his way over to the human again. "For this robot to do its job, you must remove your shirt, human." He explained, making sure that the mini bot was in working order, so far it looked like it was. "Or it'll drill a hole through your shirt too."

Dibs eyes were closed when he was put on the flat surface of the operation table. He was about to fall asleep when he heard Zim's voice after a minute or so. He was tired but none the less opened his eyes to look at his friend. "Hmm? M-My shirt. Okay. S-Sounds right." He cringed a bit when he lifted his upper half, took off his beloved trench coat along with his shirt and tossed both to the ground. He looked down to his bare chest. He was shocked at what he saw: The whole right side of his pale chest was dented! One big indentation...

"Oh holy s-shit..." Dib lifted a trembling hand to this...thing. What was this? That wasn't his body! No. It couldn't be. When he lightly brushed his fingers over the skin he felt nothing. Numb. But when he pressed a bit more into it the kick of pain came back and took his breath. "Oooff! Ouch.". Some human air left his gritted teeth.

'Yep, this seems to be working fine,' the invader thought to himself. He put the device in his left hand, and looked back towards the human. He felt his jaw drop slightly. It looked like there were no bones there what-so-ever... But what he also noticed was how pale the human was. It looked like he'd never been out in the sun. Come to think about it, he'd always been this pale... He looked closer towards the damaged ribs... Looked mega serious. Seemed like one wrong move and they'd just collapse. When he let his eyes wander, he saw two little pinky things on the boy's upper chest... And he also had a hole in the middle of his stomach! But for now, he just shook it off. He'd ask later, some time when the human's LIFE wasn't actually at risk!

"Dib-friend, this will hurt quite a lot..." He warned. But put the mini robot gently onto the boy's chest, and walked back over to the computer. He clicked on a few things until he found the controls. He typed 'Human' in the section which was marked 'Species'. And hovered over the 'Start' icon.

"...Zim's sorry for this," he mumbled, before pressing on the button, and the robot got to work at mending the human. He heard a sickening fleshy noise as the drill made its way through the boy's skin.

The last thing Dib saw was Zim's face. He looked very worried and showed an amount of pity he never believed Zim could have towards another being, especially him. And his voice sounded all too serious. He didn't hear his mumbling before but those few words now where daunting enough for Dib, so he closed his eyes again. When the drill started, the whirring echoed in his head. He screamed like never before in his young life. If his mind wouldn't be chained to the pure pain, radiating from his chest to the whole rest of his body, Dib surely would be unconscious all the while. But sadly, that sweet evasion wasn't given to the poor Dib. Right after the alien drill pierced his thin skin, its slender spider-like legs circular spread themselves under the cracked ribs to patch the badly gauged chest of our favourite human.

The digging of every single drill-leg caused an additional wave of pain, but Dibs screaming were already at its maximum. And every time a single long-drawn-out screech was done because of lack of air Dib automatically breathed in. Deeply as possible. To get enough fuel for the next terrifying-to-hear yell. They began somewhat deep in tone but soon got higher the longer they last. Until at the end there were a sharp shriek and then a last gasp. This horrible circle of screams repeated over and over again, while the alien machinery in his fragile human body made its work to hopefully repair Dibs bones. For several minutes.

As soon as the invader heard that first scream, he deeply regretted not trying to convince the human to choose the painless option. If he had, they'd be watching TV or playing a game or even just talking, but no... He had to let the human choose this option. And now here he was, screaming in agony... The noise rang in Zim's antennae and made him feel almost sick himself. What kind of friend causes pain to the other? None... Zim couldn't look Dib in the face; he knew he'd regret it. But he managed to look from the corner of his eye, and he saw the pain written all over the others face... Blood from the wound was dripping down his sid- blood? Blood! He knew that he'd have to stop the bleeding, or Dib could die from blood loss.

He ran over to the medical tray again, and grabbed a Earth towel he had made GIR buy when he found out that the robot had eaten his others. He quickly ran back to the human and put the towel on his wound gently, not wanting to hurt the human anymore... if that was even possible. "It'll be okay Dib-friend! Zim promises... Just another minute and it'll be completely over, no more broken ribs..." He reassured, shouting slightly to be heard over Dib's yells. Irk... how he'd make Torque pay for this. If he hadn't of punched him, this would never of happen- But... that means he wouldn't have had to help the human, which means... They wouldn't have ever become friends. But still... He'd get his revenge for his human friend soon enough.

Dib heard something. A voice! '...Dib-Friend...Zim...over...broken...'

That was all he was able to make out among the wall he was mentally constantly hitting, painfully clouding his mind. As soon as he heard that few words, Dib desperately clung to them to stay sane. Zim...Zim was fixing him! Yeah. There was a good reason for this whole agony, for the screaming and (without Dibs knowledge) the blood loss. He repeated the Irkens name over and over again in his head, trying to overwrite the pain. And, oh wonder, it worked quite good. Zim. This name along with the feelings attached to it helped Dib to lessen the pain a little bit. All the while the strange drill made some neat construction works inside the Dib. Overall (simply explained) the small but powerful spider-legs slowly lifted the cracked ribs back into place, seated right under them, beside Dibs heart and hovering over the lungs. They literally wrapped themselves around each busted rib. After that, some kind of 'glue' came out from the leg's tips and sides, the fractures were pretty much connected again. Bone marrow was re-growing. Dib stopped his screams when the pain slowly ebbed away. He was hoarse and tears were streaming down his face. Still whimpering, the first aware move Dib made was a weak shake of his right hand. He wiggled his fingers the best he could, hoping Zim would catch it.

Once the screaming had stopped, Zim knew that the robot had pretty much completed its job. Now all there was left was to wait for the pain to leave the human. But one thing he was surprised to see were tears running down Dib's face... 'It hurt that much huh?' He mentally thought. Now he felt even guiltier. He'd make it up to the human later on, well, if the pain had left him by then. He looked down at the human's chest; the indent was gone and was now just covered in drying blood. When he let his eyes wander again, he saw the human wiggling his fingers, so Zim lifted up his own hand and put it in the human's. After a while, all he could do was stand there, waiting for the human to give a sign that the pain was going, well, the lack of screaming was a dead giveaway.

"Dib-friend? How are you feeling?" He asked. It probably sounded like a god damn stupid question, but he felt like he should at least say something.

Dib immediately calmed down when he felt the bare hand of his Irken friend in his own. No gloves, just green, soft skin. He tightly squeezed it and smiled. The tears dried and no new ones were coming. Very carefully, he breathed in until he felt a small pang and breathed out again. So, he should not breathe in too deep for now it would only interfere with the healing process. Dib lay still for a few moments to hear his body. There was no pain anymore, except for a numb-like and somewhat aching pressure in his chest, coming from the inside. But it wasn't really an unpleasant feeling. Actually, Dib was glad to feel it, because it told him that his body 'accepted' the foreign alien repairing-procedure. And this feeling was the last aftermaths of it. His ribs attuning to the rearranged situation, the new (and original) placement. His voice was still shaking a bit.

"T-There's just a good pressure in that are-" He lightly petted his chest with the free hand "-but now I can b-breath much better, although just a little flat... at the moment, but it will get back to normal...yeah." He rubbed his thumb over the back of Zim's hand. "T-Thank you... Zim. Very much. I know I g-got you a big amount of extra... stress a-and ya' know. Struggling." He sat up by using his left hand for support while clinging to Zim's arm a bit. Now he looked to Zim eye-to-eye level and smiled warmly at him.

He'd have to say, Zim was starting to panic slightly when he didn't get a response from the human, and when he took one last deep breath... Maybe that was his last breath he'd ever take!? What if the operation had gone wrong!? What if it had accidently broken the human's heart or lungs!? What if- That was when the human spoke, squeezed his hand and was smiling! 'Thank Irk,' the invader silently praised. "No, no human. There was no extra stress, or struggling. The main thing is that you're fine now." He reassured, smiling back at Dib. "Zim's just sorry that it hurt so much." He admitted, losing his smile which turned into a frown. "And about that-" He pointed to the wound. "-I'm afraid that'll just have to heal by itself..." Yeah, he did have another bot that could heal such a thing, but it was also very painful and never tested on a human before, so that option was out the window. He defiantly didn't want to cause the boy anymore pain than he'd just been through.

"O-Okay then. And yes, I'm pretty fine now. It was worth... the pain. That Torque jerk has got a pretty s-strong punch. In honesty, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to handle this pain, once your r-robot was settled in. I-I wished to go... unconscious, b-but on the other side I was terrified I would never wake up again, if that happened." Dibs voice was really hoarse and quiet. Kind of squeaky too. He cleared his throat, but it didn't help. "And y-you know what? The best thing...about it is, that I c-can hug you much more tightly now, Zim! Like squeezing a pillow. Heh." He chuckled and...It didn't ache anymore. Good. The boy let go of Zim's hand and slowly lifted both of his arms, making grabby motions.

Zim nodded at the statement about Torque. "Yes, but I shall get revenge on him for you. He shall rue the day that he messed with the Dib-human!" He yelled, more to himself than the human, before bursting out into one of his usual over the top evil laughs; but stopped when he heard the human continue talking. He felt his face heat up slightly at the being compared to a pillow again. "Zim is no pillow," he mumbled, but edged closer to the human none-the-less. He even put his own arms around the boy in a hug, thinking that was what he meant by the arm movement. He kept in mind about the boys wound and maybe still fragile ribs so didn't put too much pressure into the hug, just to be safe.

The boy was just plain happy, when Zim hugged him and was warmly surprised when he also noticed that he tried not to hug him too tight, regarding his ribs. But Dib fully trusted Zim and the success of the operation. Now there was no risk to hug a little tighter, right? For sure. So Dib tensed his arms and squeezed Zim with all his current power, wanting to show some gratitude for the others efforts to heal him. He cradled them both a bit, resting his cheek on Zim's thin chest and closed his eyes, getting more and more relaxed "Yeah, m-much better now," he mumbled to himself. Addressing Zim he said: "And d-don't worry about that Torque. We will plan some good, evil scheme a-against him. Heh. With your...help it will be horrible for him. Just when I'm hearing that stupid name, there are so, SO many mad thoughts." He frowned for a second, but soon got back to his relaxed state of mind. Zim was here and that was veeery nice.

"Yeah, we could rip his eyes out, or cut off his hands and attach them to a machine which is programmed to punch him over and over with the same power he punched you. Or, we could put some kind of explosive device in his Earth food, and once he's eaten it, detonate it!" He chuckled at that idea. The faces on the other humans faces when they see their fellow 'pig-smelly' splattered across the room would look ridiculous! Oh how he loved these kinds of thoughts, torturing humans with his mind was so much fun. But, when he looked down, he saw that the human wasn't paying much attention, he looked far too relaxed. The Irken smiled at that, it was a lot better to see Dib like this, than screaming in agony as his flesh was being torn apart... Then suddenly his mind rested upon a question he had thought to ask before. He poked Dib on his nose to get his attention, before pointing to the hole in the middle of the human boy's stomach. "Dib-friend, what's that?" He asked. "Were you shot or something...?"

Scrunching his small nose, Dib automatically opened his amber-coloured eyes. When he heard the others question, he got up from his slumped position and looked down at his belly-button. Yeah, Zim was obviously plain clueless about the human anatomy. "Hahaha...shot?! No, Z-Zim. It has nothing to do with it. This thing-" He pointed to his navel and rubbed his neck "-is actually a remaining part of my body. A remnant. Ya' know, when I wasn't even born, there was a cord attached to that hole and it fed me the whole time to stop me from dying in my mother's womb." It was funny to explain stuff like that to Zim. Surprisingly, it wasn't nearly so embarrassing like he thought it would be. But still there was a light tint of pink on his face. "Y-You know what a womb is right?" By the way: Zim's revenge plans were pretty inventive and...So Zim-like; like the old Invader Zim.

All the invader could do was shake his head at the other boy's question. The truth was that Zim had no idea of anything about the human body, since he never actually bothered to research it. All he knew, was they had 1 head, 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, you get the idea. But he didn't really know about things that weren't amazingly obvious. Well that was Zim in a nutshell, but he didn't know that, or at least wouldn't admit it to himself. Who knows? But what he did know, was that he wanted to know more about the human anatomy, well he'd have to if he now had a human friend. And the only ways to do such was either go on his computer, or ask a human. And since Dib was human, he decided that was the easiest option.

Dib wasn't so good at biology. He just got a rather vague knowledge of the function of its parts himself. Especially the female ones. But surely he was still able to tell Zim some basics. "I guessed that...O-Okay then. It's simple. A womb is placed inside the human female's body, just under the stomach, at the guts." He circled the certain area on his belly. "For all I know, the womb works like a protecting and nurturing vessel for the unborn fetus -or call it baby- in it. It's filled with a warm liquid, the so called forewater. And the fetus is floating in that stuff. Like a car passenger and the forewater is a protecting shell inside the womb. Yeah. A-And all the mother is eating is the 'baby' eating too, through eh umbilical cord, attached to the hole on my belly." He hoped Zim understands the main thing now. He wasn't so dumb at all.

"Oh..." This information was very interesting to the Irken, but also confusing. "So, human smeets are made INSIDE a female?" He asked, finding the idea quite disturbing. To him, it sounded like a female human had just eaten a smeet... Or 'baby' as the humans called it. But, it was also quite amazing, how an inferior race such as humans, could create new life as easily and hassle free as that. On Irk, new Irkens were created by, basically cloning, and being put in a test tube until stable... But no, new humans just appeared inside another human...? "So… how does the smee- I mean 'baby', get inside the female? Or does it just appear when wanted?" He asked, wanting to know more.

By now Dibs normally pale face was flaring up of course. He knew Zim would ask that, it was just a matter of time... 'Okay, Dib Let's try this. Explaining human sex to your alien friend...' he mused. "The human b-babies are growing inside the female's body, yes. But there are actually made with a male one. Ya' know...t-the females got some tiny, itty-bitty eggs inside their womb. B-But these eggs are...hmm empty; they need a filling, before this egg turns into a baby. This...'fill' comes from a male human. It's called 'sperm'...a-and these sperms are indeed very small creatures, looking like a snake. With a head and a long tail. And the sperms -actually millions of them- get inside the females womb. But only ONE of them is able to get inside the empty egg to fertilize it. And when this part is done...the egg turns into a first equally small human, an embryo. And from this moment on it grown, for about 9 months, until its big enough to get out of the protective womb into the world. S-So that's the thing how humans are born...I guess." Yep, this should feed Zim's curiosity. He snorted at his suggestion. "Heh. As you see, Zim, they don't just appear inside a woman. His face and Zim's eyes were strangely matching now. Dib kept his gaze on to hopefully see an understanding expression on that alien face. He already thought some own questions about Zim's anatomy. Now it just felt natural to ask the same things back.

Zim let the information sink in, before responding with a simple "Oh, okay." To him, it didn't seem like such a big deal or anything to get embarrassed over, but from the colour of the human's face, he thought it best if he didn't ask any more questions on the matter. He found it quite amazing how different their species' new life were created. The human's way seemed more natural, whilst Irken's ways were more... artificial. He made his way over to collect the human's shirt and trench coat off the floor, and brought them back over to give back to the human. "Here you go human." He didn't want the human turning cold, since the lab was kind of chilly.

When Zim handed him the shirt with the coat he realized how cold it really was. Plus, the operation before drained a lot of his energy out of his body, so he wasn't that warm like normal. "Thanks." He snatched the clothes and quickly put it on. Good. Now he was wearing his beloved trench coat again. It wasn't a leather one, that would be too heavy for Dib. Just made of thick black cotton. Simple and warming. "Sooo...let's get to our- I-I mean, YOUR bed, 'kay? I wanna lay down a little bit and maybe... ya' know." He fiddled with his thumbs, since his fingers were unemployed at the moment. Hopefully not for long...

The invader watched the human get dressed silently, and noticed that once he had put his trench coat back on, he seemed to relax ever so slightly. Come to think of it, he'd never seen Dib not wear it before today. Heh, just one of the things which made the human who he was. Zim's antennae perked up slightly when he heard the human suddenly speak. Zim nodded at the suggestion. Yeah, the human must be tired, well who wouldn't be after having severe pain and their flesh ripped open? "Can you walk, human?" The invader asked; he wouldn't want the boy falling over on the way there and injuring his ribs again, or reopening his wound.

Dib clearly noticed Zim's interested gaze on him when he put on his clothes and grinned to himself, but keeping it. "I'm able to walk; yeah...b-but I would gladly take your help. Just a bit supporting, so I won't fall stumble so much." Carefully he slid off the table and lifted his right arm for Zim to take.

Zim nodded at the human, and made his way to his side. He let the human put his arm over his shoulder; and they made their way over to the elevator. Once they were in the elevator, the Irken pressed the button which sent it to the floor with held his room. It made its slow way back up and made its usual whirring sound. All the while, Zim's mind was working overtime on the information the human had just given him. And wondering why it had made the human uncomfortable. If it was a normal thing for humans to do, then why was it considered embarrassing to Dib...? When the doors opened up, he shook off his thoughts and led the human back to his room.

The human boy stayed silent too. There were enough further questions to answer, all coming from Zim. He felt the same way about him. Apart from this, he was his Irken friend, so he should know some stuff about him and his green race. When the elevator door whooshed open they slowly and silently walked to the actual room-door. Their room... As soon as Dib saw it the memories instantly came back. All the nice cuddling and...touching. Also, Dibs determination clicked in again. Asking questions was one side, but Dib wanted some 'practice' too. Feeling and touching...Zim. Oh boy. They stood in the door frame, while Dib was looking on the bed, a dreamy expression on his face and half-lidded eyes. Tomato-Dib was back. Resting with Zim seemed to be the best idea he could muster now. He didn't really care if he would miss a few days at Skool. He was seriously hurt after all, so a small vacation (with Zim of course) sounded tempting and logical. And the Irken surely was happy to stay away from all the 'stoopid' humans for a while too.

After a while of just standing in the door way, waiting for the human to come out of whatever little dream world he seemed to be in, Zim decided that he'd just walk in anyway. Saying that, he started making his way into the room, with the human following. He looked over at the other boy, and his face was red again, but he just shrugged it off. He carried on walking until they reached the bed, and they sat down on the edge of it again. But the human still seemed to be in a world of his own; so the invader started waving his hand in front of the others face. Once it seemed like he'd got the others attention, he decided to speak. "What do you want to do now then?" He asked. He was sure that the human wanted to rest, but he let the boy decide.

"Hmm?" A smug smile crept on Dib's lips as he grabbed the waving hand and led Zim to the water-bed. They both sat down on it, while Zim made an attentive face. Dib looked him directly in the eyes. "I bet you know what we could do, Zim. Yes..." With that he grabbed both the alien's hands and pressed them lightly on his face. "See? You can feel it. Just minutes ago I was cold, but now overly hot, like an oven. Heh." When he held Zim's hands Dib tucked his thumbs under them and rubbed the palms there. He wanted to know everything about his new friend now. Even more than before, when Zim was his mortal enemy. And he got more and more comfortable around him, so he guessed it wouldn't be a problem to ask some question and try some physical interactions... Dib thought anyway that Zim knew some things about his own race about that topic and surely the Irken had, had a mate or something like that in the past, back on his home planet and was clueless just about human things. Special friends they were...

Zim's eyes widened slightly when the human grabbed both of his hands and put them on his face. Indeed, the human felt warm. "Well, that's because you look like a tomato," he pointed out, blushing slightly himself. He still kind of wondered what it was with the human and all the physical contact. They'd only been friends for 2 days... well, 1.5 to exact, but already he didn't mind the others company as much as he used to. Before, the very sight of the human made him extremely angry, but now, it made him quite happy. Funny how things can change in a short amount of time, just because of one little thing. Well, broken ribs isn't exactly a little thing, it's quite serious. But you get the idea. And now here they were, talking normally. Well, as normal as you can be with a human.

"Y-Yeah. That's you. You make me look like a tomato, Zim. It never happened to me before, so...it has to mean something. You're just so...so unique and exotic. Your eyes, that green skin, these weird feelers up there. But I said that before, right? Heh. And your hands too." Dib mustered Zim for the millionth time, but was still fascinated. After all, he didn't have the chance to look at him so closely in the past, but now... There were so many possibilities. To experience. To learn. "A-And I know that you're thinking, Zim. I'm wondering about that too. It all changed so fast and drastically. But I can get used to this. I'm happy the past with all the fighting and loathing each other is (hopefully) over and done." Dib sighed and scooted closer to Zim. "Now we're special friends and trust each other. I don't wanna miss that. But I wanna know so much more about you, Zim." He played with an idea in his head for a few seconds and decided to just do it. Dib led Zim by the hands to the far end of the bed, where the cushions lied. He leaned on them, so that he was sitting, while Zim just sat there and watched him.

With every word the human said, the Irken could feel his face getting warmer. It was the way the human said it; it sounded so genuine. But when Dib said that he'd been wondering the same thing, then he was sure that the human was physic! First of all guessing about a 'change' and now he could read his mind!? Sometimes the human could he quite creepy. When the human moved both of them to the cushioned side of the bed, then was when he started to get suspicious; yet he kept a straight face, but still somehow looked curious at the same time. Usually now his egoistic side would be showing, after all, he had just got a hand full of compliments, but no, it didn't seem the time to go on a rant at 'how amazing he was'. So Zim just watched and waited for the human to do something else.

The boy knew that when Zim would get uncomfortable about the touchy stuff, he would clearly say it. So without further musings he leaned forward and put both of his hands on Zim's hips, slowly lifting the surprisingly light weight Irken and putting him into his lap by tucking his legs under Zim's ones. Now they were stretched out while Zim was sitting on them. He and Zim were now just a few inches apart from each other. Dib's hands were still on his friend's hips, while the other got a kinda shocked expression written all over his face.


	15. Chapter 15

When the human leaned towards the Irken, Zim thought that he was going to give him a hug or something, but no, the human actually lifted him up and put him on the other's lap... Well that surprised the invader. Zim felt himself blush at how close they were together, but he knew the human wouldn't do anything bad; after all, they were friends. Well, 'special friends', as the human put it. "What are you doing human?" He asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion, but wanting answers at that moment.

Really liking the way Zim was blushing; Dib gripped Zim's hips more firmly and began to rub his sides. His friend was so slim and surely curvy under that dress-like shirt the boy guessed. The longer he touched Zim the more his thoughts drifted away. And he allowed it. The way he was exhausted from the heavy amounts of pain slowly turned into a very relaxed 'cuddling-with-Zim-mode'. Dib just had to convince Zim, that there was nothing wrong with the things he did. The touching and stuff...

"Nothing bad, Zim. Just putting you on my lap. That's what Special Friends do. I think it's a more comfy position for, ya' know...c-cuddling and...Umm being your couch, yes?" He grinned at Zim and lifted his brows, making a funny face.

Zim tensed slightly when he felt the boy rub his sides, but relaxed when he explained that it was what special friends do. Well, if it was what special friends do, then that was fine with the Irken. He kind of liked it anyway, but it kept making a shiver go down his spine every moment or so. When Zim looked back towards the human, he noticed he was pulling a rather funny face, which he couldn't help but giggle at, even if he tried to hide it. "Yes, it is rather comfy, but Dib-friend, stop doing that face, it's weird." He chuckled; poking the boy on his nose again, since he knew it got his point across quite nicely. And yes, the human did make quite a good couch, a comfy one too.

Dib knew Zim would do that, poking his nose. The Irken seemed to enjoying doing that from time to time. So, like before, he caught Zim's hand after a few pokes, but kept his funny face. The others giggling was too cute. 'Let's see if Zim wants to do the same thing', he mused, meaning to carefully persuade Zim to do some touching too. "No... Hehe. I like this face right now. It makes you giggle, and that's good," he softly said and slowly placed Zim's formerly poking hand to a more welcome position on his chest, pressing in gently on his sternum.

"Ya' know Z-Zim...you could touch me some too, i-if you want. I bet it would be a total new thing for you too." Dib got sweatier now, because of this whole situation. Neither of them was able to say how it would end. Or their friendship in general... But still, Dib smiled at Zim, wanting to calm him down, like saying 'this is totally normal, don't be suspicious or afraid'.

The invader's laugh faded into a quite straight face. He pondered the idea for a while before nodding his head. If he enjoyed these touches, then so would the human. He moved the hand that the human had moved, and rubbed the other boy's chest, gently though, keeping in mind of the other boy's wound. The human boy's shirt seemed to stick to his chest, as if Dib was sweating slightly, and when the invader looked up, to his surprise, he was. The room wasn't that warm though... must be a human thing, so he just shrugged it off. Dib's chest was quite flat when he actually thought about it, well, so was the rest of him. The human was quite slim compared to most other humans. Ever since he could remember, the human had been rather skinny, but he made up for it with his height, which annoyed the invader, quite a bit. And he wasn't exactly weak either; Zim had learnt that the hard way. Many a fight had them two had in the past... But now, here they were, friends. Zim smiled at that thought.

"S-See, it isn't that bad. It actually feels nice. Just to have your hand there." Zim smiled, so he must enjoy it too. All in all, they slowly explored each other physically. By slight touches with all clothes on now. And later maybe without them, with more bare skin and heated, curious bodies. A rather goofy smile crept on Dib's face as he thought about that. There was so much more to touch and feel... But he needed to make it slow, for not scaring Zim away. But Zim's...closeness and...His scent along with his eyes made Dib a bit dizzy, in a good way. It drove him more wanting and giddy. Dib blamed his teenage hormones and was glad for having them right now.

"W-Would you like to do this cuddling...ummm...w-without a shirt on, Zim? B-Because I r-really like your skin. It feels so...so soft, like a silky type of velvet a-and it's green! Heh. Clearly superior." Sometimes it was the best way to speak with Zim: Spreading a compliment about his amazing person here and there. And it was somewhat true. Compared to human's skin, with all its imperfections and hair, Zim's green one was flawless. Perfect.

When the human started speaking, Zim stopped his rubbing of the human's chest for a moment, to think. He thought it was a bit of a strange request, but he wouldn't have asked if it wasn't what 'special friends' do, right? And he'd already seen the human without his shirt on, and it didn't make him that uncomfortable, so it was clearly normal and okay between human friends. Plus, he did like the compliments the human was giving him. "If you want," he shrugged, before reaching for the hem of his own shirt, and lifting it over his head. It was quite difficult though, due to his pak being in the way. But once he'd finally gotten it off, he put it over where his gloves were from earlier on, before turning back to the human. He felt quite exposed without his shirt on... Plus it made the room seem slightly chillier. How could the human be sweating in such a cold room? 'Irk... humans are annoying.' He thought to himself.

As soon as Zim answered positive and grabbed the hem of his shirt, Dib's gaze was immediately fixed on his chest and -after a few seconds- his field of view was filled with green. A slightly brighter lime-green. Not even blinking, Dib stared at it. There was neither a bellybutton nor nipples. Just a plain, flat chest without any hair or even scars. Zim was a soldier after all. He wasn't muscular, but got a robust physique. The Irken got a very skinny body, even more than Dib's, but was far from being weak because of that. Quite the opposite. From all Dib saw, Zim was a rather agile and cunning little being. With a battle-steeled small body, apart from those creepy spider-legs... Anyhow, in all the time, he never saw him without his shirt- must be a uniform or something. Zim wears it every day. He must have quite a bunch of them. His fingers wiggled, tempted to touch all that new, alien skin. Suddenly Dib realized that he was still wearing his shirt and coat, so he quickly got both off and threw it to Zim's clothes, on the floor beside the bed. Wouldn't be fair for Zim being the only one 'exposed'.

After a while, Zim noticed that Dib hadn't actually said anything for quite some time. So, he looked up towards the others face, and saw that the boy was just staring at him. He seemed to be in his own little fantasy world again. It made the Irken feel quite uneasy at how the human was just staring, not saying anything. Had he done something wrong? Maybe it wasn't normal for friends to do such things and the human had only just remembered? Or was it that it was just him, that the human had thought it was awkward to do this with another species... With his ex-enemy. But he got his answer when the human seemed to snap out of whatever trance he'd been pulled into and took off his own shirt and coat. The watched the clothes make their way to the pile which now lay on the floor. He kind of wanted to put his shirt back on, but also another part of him didn't. He wanted to also know what it felt like to cuddle with the human without a shirt, but his pak was screaming at him that it was wrong. That soldiers don't do this kind of thing. In response, he reached behind him and gave his pak a little nudge, to tell it to shut up. It seemed to do the trick.

Zim looked a little nervous. Yeah, Dib couldn't blame him. His Irken friend was sitting on his lap, topless! His former alien nemesis was exposing himself to him, human who gave him death threats just a week before. Weird. But when Dib saw Zim giving his strange metal backpack-thingy a nudge, his face turned into a confused one. He always wondered what exactly this thing was. And why was Zim wearing it all the time!? "What's that on your back, and why are you hitting it, Zim? Did it do something?" Dib looked around a bit. Maybe Zim activated something device in the room. Nothing seemed to happen after a few moments. So he leaned to the side a little to have a better look of the PAK.

"Huh?" Zim was slightly caught off guard with the question, but then he remembered humans didn't have such devices as Paks here on Earth. "This Dib-friend, is my Pak. It's basically like a second brain. It holds my memories, personality, weapons, tools, my mechanical spider-legs, and lots of other useful things. All Irkens have them. Without it, Irkens can only live for 10 minutes. So it's pretty important," he proudly announced. "And Zim hit it, because it was being annoying... Since it's programmed by the Control Brain and implanted into smeets, it only likes things which are useful to the Empire... And this kind of things doesn't happen in the Empire at all. It's forbidden." He admitted, blushing slightly. Zim didn't like the fact that he'd just told Dib a lot of important information on his race, but he felt like he could trust the human, after all, they were friends now. "It kind of... speaks to me in some ways, then again doesn't in other ways... Kind of difficult to explain to a human..." He shrugged, deciding to stop his little 'lesson' at that point.

The human boy just expected a short comment, but was very attentive when he heard all that new stuff about it. About Zim. It was intriguing. He didn't really ask for that and the fact that Zim still told all this essential information, Dib was sure it was a good sign. It showed that his little alien friend trusted him a lot. The 'old' Zim would have never done something like that. A second brain? No wonder it needs to be worn all the time. 'And Zim would DIE without it?! Within only 10 minutes...?' That thought really scared Dib. In the past he would have been happy (he guessed) to get rid of the Irken. It was the opposite now. After quickly snatching two green hands he quietly spoke. His voice shook a little. "Wow! Zim. I-I never thought it would be such an important...thing to you. Actually I always guessed, it's...umm... only something like a weapon or a metal bag or even just a fashion thing of your race. But it's...so much more than that." But the most interesting thing was that Zim was able to communicate with his 'PAK', and not only with words. So he got two brains! "S-So you can SPEAK with your PAK? So does it have kind of like an own mind, then? O-Or are you...controlled by it?" So is that PAK Zim? Which part of Zim? Was Dib speaking with Zim or the PAK? "And why is cuddling forbidden in your race? Isn't it a normal thing among your people?" Dib was sure that the Irken was just so nervous about it because he was doing it with a foreign species. With a human.


	16. Chapter 16

Zim looked down at their intertwined fingers, and back up at the human... He was taking this very seriously. But he couldn't help but laugh slightly at the thought of being 'controlled' by his Pak.

"No, Zim controls himself... A Pak... Is kind of like your human brains. It controls you, but you also control yourself. I can kind of speak to it... it's like your humans way of thinking." He explained, using human examples to try and make it easier for the human to understand. Yep, sometimes his Pak could be annoying, especially when sitting or lying down. That was one of the things that his race had designed wrong... Who needs a massive metal pod on their back... well, him obviously, but why did they have to design it so big? ...He'd never really thought about it before. To him, it was always just... there! Sort of taking it for granted. "And cuddling is forbidden, since it gets in the way of training and invading. And since Irkens are also no longer allowed mates, that basically means no touchy. Ever!" He added. Yeah, Irkens were no longer allowed mates, since all they did was interfere with the Tallest's commands. Heck, you weren't even allowed FRIENDS on Irk! Zim sighed at that. A while ago, he wouldn't even give that rule a second glance, he didn't need anyone, but now he actually had a friend, he didn't exactly want to lose that.

Dib got a good idea at what his friend meant. They weren't so different in that, because Dib got his own two sides. There was his 'normal' one which he is showing (or rather 'is controlled by') almost every time. But since the moment Zim helped him get off the germy Skool floor and brought him to his base, the boys 'other side' woke up and made itself noticed and was getting more demanding in time. And the connection with Zim and his strange PAK seemed to form a similar symbiosis. When a train of thoughts gets annoying, Dib would slap it mentally too; just like the Irken did this with the PAK. Heh. But Dib could only vaguely imagine what it would feel like to actually speak within the head with a second mechanical brain. Attached to your back and into the body! Dib was filled with fascination mixed with a small creepy feeling.

"S-So that thing -that PAK- is not able to...umm... form its own mind or get rebelling?" Swift pictures of a dull Zim, totally controlled by an evil PAK flashed inside his head. The spider legs, hitting him while Zim's lifeless body shell hung limply on the PAK. And suddenly this Zim awakes. Dib could read his own death in those normally so beautiful, deep eyes... "Nyah..." Dib tightly shut his eyes and cringed away a bit. His sweating got more... well, sweaty. His common side, obsessed with science-fiction and especially paranormal stuff and a way too imaginative fantasy made this damn pictures out of nowhere. Dib hated it.

"No... At least I don't think so," Zim answered, turning his head around to look at his Pak, but couldn't see it so good since it was still on his back. Oh well. That was actually quite a creepy thought... His Pak betraying him. But, the Tallest and Irken Tech Department had tested all that what seemed like aeons ago. But when he turned back around, and saw the human cringe slightly and had his eyes shut; Zim's face turned into one of shock. He took his left hand away from the humans, and put it on the others shoulder, whilst squeezing the still right intertwined hands. He shook the humans shoulder slightly, trying to get his attention. "Are you okay?" He asked, slightly concerned. Had he offended or harmed the human in some way? Maybe his wound had reopened! But when he looked back at the human's chest, none of his red blood-stuff was dripping out...

The others voice brought him back to reality. Dib quickly opened one eyes and looked up at Zim, seeing that he didn't change in the slightest. He was still sitting topless on his lap, being the same 'new' Zim he was moments ago and Dib so greatly liked. A relieved sigh left the boys mouth and smirked. Now that bad da-dream was gone and Dib realized how stupid it was to even give them a chance to get him scared. He snorted and hand-squeezed back. It was like their very own ritual: hand-holding and squeezing to comfort reassure each other. "Never mind, Zim. Just some creepy pictures about an evil PAK-thing. But...that's stupid. YOU'RE in control of your body, not that PAK, right? It's just weird for me to have another brain constantly sticking on your back. B-But on the other side, all that weapons, and lasers and... and long spider-like legs which you often use; plain cool!" Dib considered an idea. So he asked. "Hey, could you...maybe...show them to me. Your mechanical legs. Actually, I never got the chance to take a closer look at them." Also it scared Dib a little bit to be near them. Because of their past...

Once the human had spoken, Zim removed his hand from the others shoulder and put it into his own lap, out of the way. He didn't see why the human would worry about his Pak turning evil... it wasn't likely; but it was kind of nice to know that the human actually worried about it. But, Dib had always been a worrier, and a bit of a day dreamer. Constantly over thinking about stuff. But he was glad that the human had snapped out of whatever worry-world he'd got pulled into moments ago. And he kind of guessed that the human would find the concept of two brains kind of weird. After all, humans only had the one... well they were meant to. Most of them seemed like they had zero. He also agreed with the human, his Pak was indeed 'cool'. And he found it quite useful some times. Especially during their old fights. But when the human mentioned about seeing his mechanical-spider legs, he considered it for a minute. It wouldn't be a problem. And he knew the human would probably request such a thing. Dib was quite a curious person. This was sometimes good, sometimes bad. He nodded. His Pak bleeped for a moment, before the pink tabs opened up, and 4 of his spider legs came out, 2 from each tab. He made them stand so 2 of them were on each side of the bed. But brought one of the ones on the right in front of the human, so it was on its side; so the human could see it more closely.

The poor human boy was flooded with a rarely felt sparkling fascination, also mingled subconscious fear of being stabbed. His trembling hand, left Zim's one to ever so lightly to stroke the nearest leg in front of him. Actually, he touched the cold metal with the same caution and gentleness as with Zim's antennas. Surely the alien didn't feel the touch, but it was an act of respect for that foreign, advanced-beyond-human machinery. There he sat: His Irken friend on his lap with them most awe -and fearsome technology Dib have ever seen. It was quite a contrast. Zim's random cuteness, which shows more since yesterday. And these...mind-controlled legs; able to kill a human with a quick stab to a vital organ. Intriguing. 'It never gets boring with Zimmy', he thought and that made Dib all the more eager to spend time with Zim. As much as possible. Now his curious hands trailed along the leg and soon found it wrapping around a small purple sphere. Looked like a kind of a hinge to ensure lethal agility to each of the artificial limbs. 4 of them for one leg. And they ended in a multifunctional tip, at least it looked like one, since it got several tiny slits and hatches around a slightly bigger black sphere. 'How does it look like inside these things', Dibs mind mused on its own. But he decided to not ask too much question about it for now. Instead he pleaded: "Zim! Incredible. Wow. They look really versatile. Can you move them around a bit? It bet they can be fast like an arrow shot!"

Zim couldn't help but find the human's curiosity quite amusing. It wasn't often someone was actually interested in anything to do with the Irken. But, it was obvious that the human was interested by the technology he'd never seen before. To Zim, it was something that he was used to see, so wasn't that interested, nor fascinated by it. This kind of technology was quite basic to Irkens, since every Irken had them. To put it into a human's perspective, it's like seeing a car go down the road; you're used to seeing it, and everyone has one, so are not fussed by it. But to Zim, seeing a car go down the road was like seeing something completely new. It amazed him, but also amused him how humans could live a day to day basis with such simple technology. He shook his head to snap out of his little train of thoughts. He looked at the human's face, which showed signs of curiosity, but also a hint of anxiety. Well, who could blame him? Zim had used these exact machines to try and murder him before... He felt a sinking feeling in his torso... To a human, it'd be called regret. He quite regretted having tried to kill or even harm the boy in the past... He felt his face turn into a slight frown. But when the human asked yet another question, he felt the guilt subside for a brief moment.

"Of course I can move them." Zim said, rolling his eyes. He made the mechanical-legs move up and down, but leaving the one that Dib was looking at still. After a few movements, he stopped 2 of them, and made the last one stab the wall, leaving a crack in it. Zim smiled at this, knowing that he hadn't forgotten how to do that. After all, it had been awhile since he actually needed to stab something/someone.

His gaze hastily shot around here and there, taking every move the mechanical limbs made. Which were slowly floating in around in different directions like hungry snakes, searching for prey. But Dib knew there was no danger. But when suddenly one of them bolted away from the others, right into the near wall above Dib's head. All he could say was: "COOL!" How powerful they were! There was a small crack smashed inside the purple metal wall. Obviously Zim's 'spider-legs' were made of a super hard an unknown to mankind metal. So there was no way to block one of these, if they ever attack you. Yeah. Not even a certain dumb beefcake. Dib stored the idea for later use in a side chamber inside his (just slightly bigger) head. Anyhow, he was impressed by such mighty alien technology. PAKs, metal spider-limps, a creepy multifunctioning base, a robot sideki- No. Cut it. GIR wasn't really advanced, but scary none the less.

The Irken couldn't help but grin proudly at Dib's sudden outburst. "Yes, Zim's Pak is amazing." He announced smugly. Everyone at Skool knew about Zim's big ego, but even one tiny comment such as 'cool', could send it to a whole new level. But this time he wasn't going to go off into one of his speeches about 'how great he is'. No, he had something else in mind. "Now show me what you humans can do which is 'cool'," he ordered, quite looking forward to seeing what humans could do. But from what he'd learnt about humans so far, they didn't have much technology that was very impressive... But oh well. This'd give the human a chance to prove himself. Zim thought that the human was probably done with his 'technology-inspecting';so, the Irken brought his mechanical-legs back into his Pak, and waited for the human to show him something 'cool'.

And then they left again. All four of them, crammed into such a small...PAK. Neat. Something cool? Hmm. "Ya' know, Zim. In my mind you're the coolest thing I ever saw. I always thought that, but in the past I just called it different. More...negative. But, if you ask me I would cuddle and talk with you, about you and your race the whole day. But maybe it will bore you to death after a while I guess. Heh. And for the c-cuddling...there's a reason for taking off the shirt." He crawled into a lying position, his head neatly supported by a cushion (GIRs favourite one) "Here, let me show you." And with that, he looped his arms around Zim's neck and slowly brought him down, so that his Irken was now lying down on the boy's bare chest, all the while grinning up at the cute surprised green face.

Zim could feel himself blush ever so slightly when the human gave him those compliments. And to be honest, he wouldn't mind cuddling with Dib for most of the day. It was actually quite relaxing. But when the boy said there was a reason for taking their shirts off, that was when his expression turned from a smug smile, to a confused tilt of the head. He thought it was just because the human wanted to. He gasped slightly when the human slowly pulled him down, since he didn't expect it. Zim's blush was now on full power; he didn't know why, but it was. He could feel the warmth of the human below him, and he noticed that Dib felt kind of... sticky. Probably from the sweating he had been doing for a while. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, but it was new for Zim, that was for sure.

Dib gasped when Zim's slightly cooler, bare and green chest came in contact with his pale one. There was that tingling again, but much more powerful... it was skin-to-skin contact, an amazing feeling! His whole body was on fire and his heart pumped like a racing cars engine. The sheer closeness in this moment made Dib almost dizzy because of all that overwhelming, waving feelings in his body. It was probably the first time this happened between a human and an alien… But that wasn't important to Dib right now. Zim's blush was the cherry on the cake. It was obvious that he didn't do this before too. And he let it happen and...There was the purring again! Rather quiet but it was definitely there. It seems that Zim couldn't really control it. It was a sign for the Irken's happiness, Dib knew it. So he kept his left hand behind Zim's head, whilst the right one slowly made its way down and grazed with the very fingertips along Zim's side. Up and down. The Irken's green, bold head barely reached Dibs collarbone. Magenta orbs shined somewhat confused but mostly calm and relaxed up to him, while Zim's arms were tucked under that head for support.


	17. Chapter 17

Oh Irk, he was purring again... Zim hide his face in his arms out of embarrassment. He was embarrassed enough as it was, well who wouldn't be? Cuddling shirtless with your ex-enemy wasn't exactly common now was it?

But now his purring was getting slightly louder as the human moved his fingers along the invader's side. It was kind of ticklish, but also sent what felt like electricity down his spine again. That seemed to happen a lot when the human touched him like this. He hated the fact that he couldn't stop the purring, so there wasn't much he could exactly do. But since his face was in his arms that also meant that his face was closer to the human. Which meant that he could smell the human's scent quite strongly now. He was used to the smell after all the years he had known Dib, but it was only now that he actually could think of the scent in a good way. It was the kind of smell which brought back quite a few memories, some good, some bad. But memories all the same. He removed his arms away from his face, and instead, put them around the human's torso in a sort of hug, and moved his head so that the side of his head was resting on Dib's torso, and stared blankly at the wall.

Smiling when Zim hid his face, the only thing Dib heard was the racing heartbeat in his ears and Zim's now omnipresent purring. He could feel it vibrating in the Irken's chest by his sides. Damn, this skin was oh-so-very soft; he couldn't get enough of that feeling. It was addicting, like the purring, a sound which only Zim was able to do. And when his new found green friend was resting his head on his pale chest, the purring also vibrated through Dib's body. It spread to his head and sang in his ears. He didn't know why, but this strange, alluring sound was waking a wanting feeling inside the boy and drove him almost crazy. It was a totally new feeling, an overrunning one. Dib felt hot and...Aroused. Zim made him feel that way! And it didn't help that the Irken's antennae were twitching right in front of his face. With a chocking voice Dib tried to say something.

"Z-Zim... This feels... so weird. So… amazing." One of Zim's antennas was constantly hitting his mouth with its twitching and out of a foreign urge Dib caught it quickly with his mouth and began to suck on the tip.

Zim nodded in agreement to Dib's statement. Yeah, it was weird, but also amazing, just like he had said. Yet, he heard a chocking tone in the boy's voice, so he lifted his head up slightly to see if the human was okay. But before he could, he felt the human's warm mouth on one of his antennas, and instantly, his eyes widened. His mind went completely blank, and his head fell back against the human's torso again. Zim half hated it when the human messed with his antenna, since it made him go like a rag doll, absolutely no thoughts. And he also liked it, since it made him mega relaxed, and the feeling was unexplainable. He heard his own purring get significantly louder, and an ever so slight moan pass his lips. He buried his face into the other boys torso, trying to get away from the feeling in his antenna, but not wanting to stop cuddling with the human either. He subconsciously hugged Dib tighter, and shut his own eyes.

It tasted sweet when Dib flicked the tip with his tongue and gave it a few licks. An alien, exotic and on so tempting sweetness, which encouraged him to taste it over and over again, all the while feeling the slightly raspy surface of the antennas feathery tip. It induced a pleasant tingling on his tongue. Dib's eyes fell half-lidded and he made a content sigh, breathing through his nose. After a few moments he felt Zim's small arms tightening around him and the now very loud purring. It was music to his ears. And like this wasn't enough, Dib was still able to hear that small moan coming from Zim's lips. He stopped with his licks and looked down. Zim was pressing his whole face into his chest and purred so intense, that his whole body felt like jelly, since it vibrated into him. The boy took the antenna into his left hand and stroked it up and down while the right one was laid unmoving on Zim's side. He panted a bit while speaking:

"W-What...does it feel like, Z-Zim?"

When the Irken felt the human stop his licking, he could help but be slightly relieved, since now he could actually think again. But it didn't last for long, since when the human started stroking his antenna; the cloudy feeling in his brain came back. He could only just hear the boy's question, and found it quite difficult to speak, "Y-you have no i-idea..." He managed, "I-If only you humans h-had antennae, then y-you would know." His voice was muffled slightly, due to his face still being hidden in Dib's chest. Yeah, if the human had antennae of his own, then he would be able to show Dib himself. But no, all humans had was the fur on top of their head. He always wondered why they actually had that fluff. It didn't seem to do much for keeping them warm, since it was only a small amount... And some humans didn't even have any hair on their head... Maybe it was to protect their head? Who knows? Well humans, obviously. But Zim just shrugged it off.

Dib was always a bit curious how it would be to have own antennas to hear and maybe smell with them. But now -regarding what he was doing to them- and with Zim's answer, Dib was really regretting it not to have any, because now he knew that they were extremely sensitive to the slightest touch, especially the bent tip. Dib was just lightly stroking the length of it, no tip. But from the struggled way Zim was speaking it was clear that it still felt amazing to him; Dib's warm human fingers on his delicate stalk.

"T-That's right, Z-Zim. We don't have such feelers like you. B-But the way you're... purring, against m-my chest feels v-very nice and just hearing it makes me...a-aroused..." Did he really say that aloud? Oh boy. And before Dib could stop it, his babbling continued and a smug smile appeared on his Tomato-Face. "B-Besides, there are...other sensitive parts of the h-human body too..."

Zim looked up at the human, trying to stay focused. Humans were sensitive too? That was interesting. In all the time he'd known the human and all the fights between them two, he'd never seen the human react from being 'sensitive'. "They d-do? Where?" He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly out of curiosity. The human knew where he was sensitive, so it was only fair if the Irken knew about him too. Well it wasn't his hair, since he said that he had no feeling in the fluff, and his hands weren't either. If they were, their 'hand-holding' would have been much different. So he waited for a response.

Now he said it and of course Zim would ask 'where'. Dib didn't intend so say that but his mouth was faster than his brain again. Well, it would be quite exciting to feel something similar like Zim was. Dib was just a bit uneasy if it was going already too far. But these worries were quickly vanished and were replaced with sheer lust and curiosity. So Dib pointed to his nipples and looked into these magenta eyes which were now a bit darker than usual. Weird. "H-Here for example...I bet you noticed them before. T-These things are called...nipples; they are quite sensitive." Grabbing one of Zim's hands, he placed it of one of them, all the while gently rubbing the feeler. He hoped his claws would not hurt him there...

The invaders eyes followed to where Dib was pointing. There were little pink things coming from the human's chest. They looked kind of weird and out of place, against Dib's pale skin. Once the human had moved his hand to one of them, Zim was now very curious. 'So, these are sensitive?' He thought, and began to rub it for a while, guessing that was why the human had moved his hand. But he didn't seem to get much of a reaction, so he switched from rubbing, to twisting; gently though, so as not to harm the human. He kept in mind of his claws... One wrong move and Dib would have more than just one wound. He tried to keep focused, but it was kind of difficult to, due to the human rubbing his antenna. He changed his gaze to Dib's face, to see the human's reaction to these touches.

As soon as his nipple was rubbed it hardened and shrank a bit. Mostly because Zim's hand was so cool compared to Dib's heated body. But when Zim switched from rubbing to twisting, Dib shuddered.

"Nyah..." His eyes widened while he looked at the alien's curious face. Zim was very careful not to break the skin there. "Y-You see... kinda s-sensitive. F-Feels so weird, being touched t-there, especially when your hand is s-so cool." Unintentionally he rubbed the feeler in his hand a bit faster, like the warm, tingling waves spread in his hand and speeded his fingers.

When the human's rubbing speeded up, Zim felt his body heat up slightly, which scared him. Was his Pak over heating? He reached behind him with his free hand, nope. It was fine... Maybe it was from all... this. He also heard the human speak, and it sounded like the way he had moments ago... Struggled. Heh, so it did have the same effect on the human. That was interesting. He remembered that when the human had put his antenna into his mouth, the feeling intensified. Maybe it'd be the same for the human? He thought about it for a moment... Would Dib mind? Well, he hadn't asked for permission about touching his antenna, so why should he? Without any further thought, he brought down his head, and began to suck on the other boy's nipple, hoping for a better reaction.

Gasping loudly, Dib clenched his hands and therefore grabbed Zim's antenna quite tight while the other one squeezed the Irken's side. He didn't expect such thing...from Zim. But he knew Zim was trying to show him at least a good idea of how the antenna-sucking felt. It worked. It was hard to breath for Dib, since the air around them felt warm and sticky. Heavy breaths escaped him while he basked in the feel of Zim's tongue exploring the texture of his human fleshy skin there. Zim...Zim was licking him! A dreamy face followed that though and soon his hard grip loosened again.

"Hmpf... Z-Zim. That...that feels o-overwhelming. It's s-so hot in here all of a sudden..." Now he knew why Zim was so out of place and slurred every time Dib touched his antenna or even sucked on it. The Irken's lips still gently sucked on the nipple and the wet tongue curiously tasted the human flesh.

Zim winced slightly when he felt the human grab his antenna, it quite hurt, but he knew that the human hadn't done it on purpose. It was a reaction after all. Plus, he'd had worse pain than this. And it meant that Dib was enjoying it, so, all was fine. And after a while, the human's grip lessened, and so did the pain. Zim couldn't help but giggle slightly at the human's speech; since it sounded like he was half drunk, half asleep. It was funny to see the human like this, but also nice to see him happy too. After a few moments, he realized he had subconsciously starting licking as well... And what surprised him even more, was that the human had a taste... It wasn't exactly easy to describe, but it tasted slightly salty... It wasn't a nasty flavour though. Heh... Zim was suddenly reminded of when he and Dib had started turning into baloney, and Dib had been attacked by dogs since he tasted of baloney. ...Yep, some of his plans weren't exactly the best. He looked up, and noticed that the boy had a dreamy kind of face. "You seem to be enjoying this human," he teased.

Even when the ministration ended, the aftermaths were still waving inside Dib and when he heard Zim speaking, it took him some moments to comprehend the question. It was hard to concentrate. He looked at his nipple which was now a bit wet from Zim's saliva and then back at his 'Special Friend'. Really special... "Y-Yeah...it's a totally new f-feeling for me. It felt like you wanna taste some of m-me." Dib chuckled at the thought on a hungry Dib-eating Zim. Surely would be interesting.

At that last part, Zim felt his face heat up slightly, he didn't know why, it was just the way Dib had said it. He changed his gaze so he was now looking over at the wall. "N-No, Zim just wanted to show you what it felt like when you touch my antenna," he explained, making sure the human didn't get the wrong idea. But when he heard the boy laugh, he couldn't help but smile too. "You humans have weird ways of showing friendship." He mumbled. He'd never seen anyone at Skool do this kind of thing to a friend... Weird. But Dib had said it's what special friends do, so it must be.

"I-I'm just saying...Well, I guess there isn't a real taste. Probably just salty skin. Not really...Heh. Edible. Human food is mostly poisonous to you anyway." The way Zim was blushing was always too cute to not smile at. But when Zim mentioned their friendship, it made Dib a bit pensive. In a way it he was right: 'Normal' human friends don't do such things to each other. Actually, it's reserved for...lovers. Such intimate touches with Zim and al that heated cuddling. It should be wrong to do this with a friend. Best friend. Even if he's an alien. A male one. And Dib got the feeling that it wasn't just only curiosity anymore. They both enjoyed it so much. Maybe too much. But also, when it feels good it can't be wrong, right? And they were special friends after all. This wasn't just a hoax to calm Zim down or something. Dib truly believed they were, regarding their past and maybe...their different species too. Oh so very special. So... was this already going too far? Should he stop? Of course the rational side of his brain, which still got a dislike towards the green Irken was saying 'Yes. Yes. Yes!' But, as previously mentioned, Dibs more emotional and heart-driven side was happy to finally have control and some attention.

"I guess I-I mentioned it before; usually m-mates are doing these kind of things to each other, Z-Zim. But it's okay, if special friends like us do it. Showing a-affection, ya' know. If it feels good, it's more than right." There was an urge again to touch Zim's antenna; but maybe it was better to not to this now, when they were speaking about this. Zim needed to stay focused for now.

Zim listened to the human, but it made him feel quite uneasy... If mates usually did this kind of thing... then- No, he had also just explained that special friends did this kind of thing too. But that one word kept rolling around in the invader's head. Mate. He sat bolt upright, but still on Dib. His eyes widened slightly and his blush intensified greatly.

"B-But... Zim is not your mate..." He exclaimed, looking down at the boy and feeling quite embarrassed now. It didn't matter to him if special friends did it or not... If mates did it, then it was out of the question. ...What would the Tallest say!? He suddenly felt quite light headed. His thoughts were taking over his mind. If special friends did it, then that was fine... but MATES!? But then again... it did feel kind of nice to be with the human, and cuddle with him too. But he would not admit that to Dib; no way. He knew something felt wrong about this though, he wondered why he'd never seen other humans do this kind of thing with their friends... Had Dib been lying to him? But... he wouldn't. As far as he knew, friends didn't lie to each other. He clutched his own head in both arms... Ugh, now he was getting a headache. "Ugh, Zim is confused now..." He groaned, swaying his head slightly.

'Of course he would react that way…' Dib thought, so it wasn't a surprise when Zim moved so suddenly. When he heard him speaking and saw all the confusion and shock on the Irken's face, Dib couldn't help feeling sorry for him. Regarding what Zim said to him yesterday...his race was forbidden to do something like that. Hell, even the slightest non-painful, gentle touch was 'forbidden'. So it was no wonder Zim was so very clueless about it. Dib was the only one he could ask, so Zim had to believe him about it. Dib shook his head, slowly lifted his hands and carefully grabbed Zim's arms away from his head. Dib grabbed one green hand and placed it neatly on his belly. Maybe too much touching wasn't a good idea at the moment. They weren't mates, right? They couldn't be! Two days ago they were mortal enemies after all. Disliking each other and... Well, it didn't matter anymore he guessed. Now they sat here. Cuddling. Touching. Purring. Blushing. Moments ago. "Y-You're not my mate, Zim! I know...it's overly confusing what we were doing yesterday and just now. B-But there is no way I'm lying to you...about this. I-I'm sure this whole stuff doesn't make us m-mates." Wow. Even the sheer thought of ...being Zim's mate was... kinda exciting, but still very confusing. Shaking his head a bit he continued: "I don't really know what to say about it...just that it doesn't makes us mates, Zim! So p-please don't be scared now. L-Like I said before...if it feels good, then it's right. Mates or not." Dib gripped Zim's hand with both of his and played with the three green fingers of his.

A silent gasp came from the invader as the human boy grabbed his arms away from his face. Zim looked straight into Dib's eyes, and saw that he also had a slight worried expression, but also a reassuring one. He felt like he could trust the human, but his Pak was screaming to just leave. 'No! I can trust the human,' he mentally shouted, wishing he could just be without his Pak. But obviously not. He looked at the human, who was currently playing with his hand. Dib seemed to like doing that. Zim smiled slightly at that. He decided to make the moment less awkward, "Zim's not scared of anything." He announced proudly, straightening his back as to make himself look slightly taller.

There was Zim's high ego showing again. One of his funny old traits. And it made the situation much more comfortable. And Dib wanted to contribute his part too. "Heh. Of course you aren't scared." While speaking, he slowly released Zim's hand "But that doesn't mean you're not...ticklish!" And with that he swiftly attacked Zim's sides and tickled him there. Dib knew Zim was very ticklish. From before. The unforced happy laughing of a tickled Zim was almost a nice to hear as his purring.

Zim grinned smugly when the human agreed. "Glad to hear that you agree at how superior I a-" It was only then that the invader saw the human boy make a quick movement towards him. Was he attacking? No... He was tickling. This in his opinion was worse. Much worse. He burst into a fit of laughing, whilst trying to swat away Dib's hands; but it didn't seem to work very well. "S-Stop it!" He managed to yell, in between laughs.

"Why should I stop? Is it too much for the mighty little, CUTE Zimmy...?" Dibs left hand was tickling Zim's belly now. It was way too much fun to irk the Irken in this funny way. Zim shall just try to make him stop. The more he heard that alien laugh the more he was laughing himself. And there they were. Laughing like two long-year buddies and carefree little children. Who expected this kind of interaction between Zim and Dib...?

"I am not cute! And I am especially NOT little!" He yelled, half laughing though. And all the while blushing slightly at the nickname. The Irken was now trying to crawl away from the human completely, but it was quite difficult to keep your balance when you're being tickled, especially on your belly. So, he just kept ending up failing. If there was one thing Zim hated being called, was little. Since the Irken social order was based on height, it was quite an insult to be called, short, small or little. But he knew that Dib was just teasing; so he let it go, this time.

When Zim tried to get away from his swift fingers and failed miserably; Dib couldn't help laughing even more, holding his belly with his now free hands, when Zim fell on the bed sheets. It was hilarious! All awkwardness was gone, but not for long. "S-Sorry, Zim. It's just too funny." But when Dib looked down at the still smiling Zim and his laughing turned into a chuckle. The way Zim looked at this moment, laying on his back, shirtless and blushing...Oh boy. It was very alluring to see. After some moments Dib fell completely silent and gulped. He'd never seen Zim like this before. 'He looks so...sexy! What's wrong with me!?' His Tomato-Face bloomed again oh so very intense, and the boy unintentionally scooted closer to his Special Irken Friend and also got sweatier.

For a while, Zim just lay there, watching the boy laugh. He smiled at the sight; it was nice to see Dib happy. At school, he was usually so... miserable. But now, here they were, friends. His smile increased at that thought. But, when Dib's laughter dyed down, so did Zim's smile. But it still remained, just slightly. But when the boy fell completely silent, the awkwardness seemed to be looming over them again. It was like a black cloud, slowly making its way between them. Zim also noticed that the human's face was like a tomato again. And he seemed to be scooting closer slightly. So, he decided to sit back up.

The boy stopped when Zim sat up again. Their knees touched for a moment, so Dib changed his position until his long legs were placed at Zim's sides again. He liked the way the Irken was neatly sitting between them. It gave him kind of a controlling feeling. To keep his hands occupied he fumbled with the sheets. He didn't want to make Zim uneasy and confused again with too much touching, especially since the way Dib saw him just moments ago. That picture was locked in his head and made him so... giddy.


	18. Chapter 18

Zim watched the taller boy move his legs so they were by his own sides, and he noticed that the boy was fiddling with the bed sheets. He looked kind of nervous... and spaced out.

"Are you ok, Dib-friend?" He asked, wanting to know what was wrong. Did he regret doing all the touching, since mates usually did it? Well, if that was so, he wouldn't have done it in the first place. He shuffled closer to the human, so he could see the others face better.

It didn't help when Zim scooted closer. His nervousness was getting the better of him. His blood rushed inside of him like, in his ears. "N-Nothing's wrong. It's just...just, you're..." The picture of Zim moments ago was all too present now in his mind. With a swift motion he grabbed Zim's face and yanked it forward. But right before his nose touched the area where Zim's would be, he stopped and bit his lips. Dib looked back ashamed for a few seconds but then back to Zim. Now he gently cupped Zim's cheeks, unable to move. Just looking into these alien eyes... "Z-Zim...I can't...can't-", he whispered with wide amber eyes.

The stuttering in the other's voice was more than enough information for Zim to know that he was defiantly nervous. But about what...? ...Had he done something wrong? Was that why he was nervous? He was just about to apologise when suddenly his face was grabbed forward. He gasped at the sudden movement, not expecting it. Hadn't the human just said that this was for mates...? But he didn't question it. Maybe he was just going to say something that had to be whispered... but what on Irk would have to be spoken like this? But then the human looked back, in almost shame. Had he realized that he didn't mean to do this? Zim felt himself blush yet again, for the 100th time today, at how close their faces were. Hadn't the human ever heard of personal space? "What can't you, human?" He asked, in the same quietness the human had used.

Zim's quiet voice was calming him down a tiny bit. So he was able to from some coherent words. His hands began to tremble. "I c-can't...do this. This is g-going too far...I guess. I-I don't want to shock you or...or scare you away. We already did some n-nice stuff, yeah." He smiled warmly at the memory of the moments they shared the last two days.

"But... K-KISSING you would c-cross the borders. But...but when you laid there, on your b-back, with your bare green chest a-and that n-nice smile. You looked so...so-" He really struggled to say the last part, but he needed this to be done. "- so...s-sexy. Yeah, you looked very attractive, Zim!" His face was very serious now and his gaze bored into Zim's, hoping the Irken wouldn't freak out and slap him or something worse...

When the invader felt the human's hands start to shake, since they were still on his face, now he knew he had to calm down the human. "Well, if you can't do it, then don't?" He suggested, trying not to make the moment even more awkward. He didn't see why it was such a big deal. If Dib couldn't do it, then why was he trying to...? Well at least it seemed like he was. And when he heard those two compliments, his face heated up even more. For a change, he didn't feel like going off into one of his speeches about how it was all true. That how he was amazing. Instead, he just sat there, still looking into the others eyes, who were staring back. And what was this 'kissing' thingy? Was it another thing mates did? Well, he wasn't going to ask, that was for sure. Since it'd probably only make Dib even more anxious.

"Heh. So you say. B-But it isn't so easy. S-Something drives me to...to k-kiss you...just to know how it...f-feels. On the other s-side I think it's too much. That even s-special friends shouldn't do this. It's a quite i-intimate act between two humans who...l-love each other. I never did it before and y-you're an alien, my former enemy, ya' know. S-So I'm even more nervous t-to maybe do this... with you, Zim."

Dib warm breath hit Zim's face and he began to sweat again. His heart pumped so hard it was almost painful. He was scared that he could go unconscious any moment if he didn't make up a decision. Also, he got the strange feeling, that this was the only chance to do this to Zim. Kissing. Probably he wasn't able to build up the courage later or thought it over, against it. But the longer Dib was staring into Zim's magnificent eyes, the more his emotional side was screaming in his head: 'Do it! Come on, this is your chance! You know you want it.' Surely it was smarter to ask Zim if he was allowed to 'show' it to him. "S-So, what do you think, Zim? M-Maybe we could...kiss? I'm just asking. I-I understand, if you say no." Dib half expected to hear a plain 'no way' or something like that from Zim, since it was obviously something only mates did.

Zim tensed slightly at the 'alien' remark, and was about to go off into a rant about how he was a 'perfectly normal human worm-baby', but then he remembered... He'd been without his disguise for 2 days now... He honestly felt like face-palming at that moment. "Hey, you're the alien too," he countered. It was true though. To him, Dib and his entire race were the aliens. So they were both in the same boat, so to speak – no pun intended. It was when the human's warm breath hit his face that he actually noticed how warm the human was... And also looked like he was about to faint. And that question came as a surprise. Why was the human even asking if he knew that only mates did it...? He even said that special friends don't do it either... But the look on the humans face, in an almost expectant expression, made it hard to think of saying 'no'... And he didn't exactly know what a 'kiss' was, so it'd also be informative. So, still thinking, he moved his gaze around the room, trying to avoid the human's eyes. Eventually, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, in an almost defeated manner, and looked back at Dib. "If we must," he agreed, slightly nervous now.

Dib knew that Zim was as curious as he himself about experiencing a kiss. His first one, probably Zim's too. When he heard the others okay, Dib couldn't hold it any longer. 'Now or never...' Taking a deep breath, he slowly leaned forward and closed the small space between them by ever so slightly brushing Zim's lips with his own pink ones. Immediately, an overwhelming sparkle exploded in his lips and ripped its way to his brain. Now he felt quite dizzy, like he was drunk. The world around him faded and he grinned. His heart ached pleasantly and pumped a good amount of blood into his big head, feeding the Tomato-Blush there.

It was...wonderful! He felt like his whole body was muffled in cotton wool. Closing his eyes, Dib pressed a bit more to Zim's green lips and that intensified all this feelings greatly. His thumbs rubbed against green cheeks, while Dib just sat there and don't moved his mouth; just relishing the feel of Zim's soft alien lips pressed to his own. Thinking that it was out of the question for the boy at the moment.

To begin with, Zim just waited for the human to do something. Since, for a moment, they just sat there. But then, the other boy came closer to his face. Zim had half a mind to back away, but he knew nothing bad would happen. And when eventually the human's lips came in contact with his own, his eyes widened and he felt a shock of electricity go down his spine yet again. It was quite overwhelming, and he began to feel rather light headed. He and Dib now looked like two ends of a traffic light. One neon green, one neon red. Both blushing immensely. After a while, he felt the human press more into this 'kiss', and noticed that the boy had shut his eyes.

With this, he decided to shut his eyes too. It seemed to make the feeling even better than before. It felt like the floors, walls, ceiling had disappeared into nothing, and it was just them two. Shooting stars seemed to be whizzing past his shut eyes, since it wasn't just plain darkness anymore that he could see. He clenched the bed sheets with one hand slightly, and pressed into the kiss slightly too; wanting the human to know that he was enjoying it.

It was almost an out-of-world experience, a paranormal one. Was this really happening? Soon he got his answer, when Zim gently kissed back. So he unconsciously moved one hand from the cheek to the back of Zim's head to keep him in place. It was 'just' a kiss, more of a peck without tongues involved and their mouths were closed, but still...It was Dib's first kiss: With Zim! And it all happened so fast. And Dib was glad for that. Or rather, literally speechless and out of breath. So he slowly disconnected their lips, leant back a bit, opened his eyes and dropped his hand, while the right one was still rubbing Zim's cheek in small circles. It was similar to the hand-holding for Dib. It felt so natural and reassuring. Panting heavily he was just able to say:

"Z-Zim... Wow! That was..." Not finishing the sentence he touched his lips with his free trembling hand and carefully palpated his slightly wet lips, to make sure it really happened just now...

When their lips finally parted, Zim opened his eyes and stared at the human. They both seemed to be out of breath. He reached for his own mouth with both of his hands. 'So that was a kiss...' he thought. Hmm, it seemed different from what he thought it'd be. But then again, he didn't know exactly what to expect. The human was still rubbing his cheek; odd, but he wasn't going to question it. He kind of liked it anyway. "Different," He said, finishing the human's sentence for him. Well, it currently was a different experience; for both of them. He felt an urge to wipe his mouth though, since there were way too many germs on one human's mouth and lips for his liking. But he decided against it. After all, the human wasn't doing it. After a while, he felt his blush die down slightly.

"Y-Yeah, it was totally...umm... different. Compared to our cuddling and m-making-out before. Zim. It was an unexplainable heat a-and sparkling ...and tingling. All at once! I-I really enjoyed it. Heh. My first kiss..." He mumbled that last part. While speaking, Dib looked into these eyes and what he noticed first was the rather dark colour of Zim's usually clear red eyes. Now they more were really intense claret and got an odd glowing, a burning coming from deep inside of them. Maybe it was just Dibs imagination but he was sure Zim's eye colour had been growing darker the more they cuddled. Since they were both were in the base. Dib was a bit worried about that fact. Was this normal? It never occurred in the past, as far as he knew. Was it a disease? Or a normal reaction to...making out or liking someone, like his nice purring!? Well, he should just ask Zim. Catching his breath he released Zim's cheek and fiddled nervously with the sheets. "Hey, Zim. Umm, I just noticed t-that the colour of your eyes is much darker now. A-And now that I see it...They slightly change its hue. F-From a rather bright red to a kinda...gloomy claret tone. B-But maybe I'm just seeing things..." H looked down, pondering and thinking he was weird again.

"Huh?" His eyes? They had gone a different shade!? He went crossed eyed for a moment, trying to see his own eyes, but obviously, he couldn't. But from the others description, he knew what he was talking about. He groaned slightly at the thought of having to explain this to the human. But, he'd have to. He sighed before speaking. "No, it's not your imagination... Before Irkens were forbidden to have mates, we were known to be able to do a few things to show affection. One you already know is purring... and another is this-" He pointed to one of his eyes- "they change colour when Irkens become... well..." How could he explain this without it turning into a weird conversation...? He looked down and started playing with the sheets too, blush increasing. "Lustful..." He murmured quickly. "But Zim has NO thoughts in that direction!" He added, shouting slightly, mega embarrassed by now; hoping the boy wouldn't think of it in the wrong way.

Zim was acting rather oddly calm and really amiable since they were together in the base. They actually spent the whole time side by side, never leaving the others presence except for this one time, when Dib was about to leave to get home and for Zim getting snacks and painkillers. But there was no building up annoyance to have the other around. Quite the opposite. The longer Zim and Dib stick together, the more they were enjoying it. What did Zim sing last night? ' But you're my Dib-friend and I will stick with you until the end...' Adorable. At least it was quite a bunch of hours by now and when Dib imagined it to leave the base, getting to his house and being all alone in his spooky room like usual...It was a depressing thought. No, he wanted to spend way more time with Zim now! Hey, they kissed a few minutes ago. Kissed! Dibs brain made a vague shading of an image of how this all could end up. Of course, Dib tried to suppress such...fantasies, but it was hard to do that when you already kissed your alien 'Special Friend' and he enjoyed it like he had... All this musing happened right before Zim spoke. The boy heard an 'huh?' and looked up, still neon red. He listened closely, like he always did when Zim told stuff about his race. He knew he wasn't just seeing things. Still, Dib was not expecting that of all things. With a slightly gaping mouth he stared at Zim's eyes for some seconds, before stuttering out some words.

"L-Lustful!? You mean... a feeling of... arousement? Like you want m-more of it? I-I didn't know you enjoyed it that much." Dib was feeling a similar thing since they cuddled with shirtless and it intensified with the time. Especially when that kiss happened. So, he thought he could tell the Irken, since it would help to lessen his embarrassment. "But, Zim; I guess...I-I'm feeling the same thing. Like a...a fire burning inside of me. It only goes stronger when you're around." Duh. Sounded like a girly confession, but Dib couldn't help it. Hey, he already told Zim of being his 'crush'. So it wasn't really a surprise, if this only got deeper and bigger.

The invader just shrugged at the boy's question, still staring at the sheets. He did quite enjoy what had happened between him and the human the past 2 days. But he was sure that was just his instincts kicking in, from when mates were allowed; and that he wasn't actually attracted to Dib. 'Irk this is confusing,' he mentally complained. The past 2 days he had been feeling a lot happier than he usually would, especially when around the human... It seemed to him like they had been friends for a long while, not just a few days... Their previous battles were usually nothing more than teasing... trying to make the other look like a foul. But then again, sometimes they were quite dangerous. But, after their time spent together, and all the... touching; it seemed natural to be around the boy, and wouldn't even think of attacking him again- Wait... Had the human said he felt the same? He looked up quickly, and saw that the human still had the tomato-face he'd had for a while, and his jaw was slightly hanging... He'd made the conversation weird again, hadn't he? He sighed slightly.

"The past two days have been... weird, in a good way though. But, I don't know what's going on." He whined, bringing his knees to his chest and holding his own head in his hands. First the human said that they were special friends... then that only mates did this touching, and then they kissed! What was going on with his brain!? Why hadn't he listened to his Pak...? If this was a week ago, Dib would be out of his base quicker than you could say 'intruder', and probably with a few limbs missing. But no, he had invited the human in, helped him and then they cuddled!? Was this good... or was it bad? He honestly didn't know...

The way Zim was looking at the sheets, groaning several times, frowning and eventually hiding his face by curling into a small green thing...it was obvious that he was confused. Dib knew something like that didn't occur amongst Zim's people...anymore. So it was no wonder the Irken would be so clueless about it. So all that touching was completely new and rather disturbing to him. How could Dib help his friend? He thought about leaving the base to give him some time to think it over. All they did and how it affected him. But when this idea showed up in his head, Dib cringed a tiny bit in his spot. Honestly, he really didn't want to do that, since he was getting along better and better, the longer they had each other around. And the concept of going back to his home and spending the rest of the day in his spooky room wasn't helping either. Before this all happened he would have said that he actually liked being alone most of the time. But now... he would call it 'lonely' it the worst way. He got a companion now and didn't want to miss that anymore. So he decided to stay by the Irken's side to help him by...yeah, maybe explain some things to him the best he could. No matter how hard it was to not grabbing Zim's hand, rubbing and squeezing it. Especially when the other looked so dazed and...Frustrated. Touching him would be probably a bad idea, since it was the trigger for Zim's current state. Emotional and physical. So Dib slowly drew his legs away from Zim's sides and sat cross-legged before him. He softly said:

"Zim. I-Is there anything I can do to...help y-you feeling not so...so deranged anymore? M-Maybe I should go, so you would not feel so confused and...umm...awkward. "After all, it was only fair to offer that option. But Zim said it himself; it was weird in a GOOD way. So hopefully all Zim needed was some 'enlightenment'. Who else was able to give it to him? Yeah, he got his amazing huge computer. But it would just spill out sheer facts about that matter, not really helping Zim to understand it. Still he looked down, while Dib was watching him, trying to read Zim's mind. "I will try to answer e-every question you might have, Zim. You can trust me, ya' know? Surely it would make some stuff clear for you..." He offered. He wanted to see Zim happy again. With that smug smile on his face, beaming about himself, his Zim-ness.

Zim immediately looked up when he heard the boy's suggestion; and grabbed the others arm. "NO! I-I mean... If you go, the zombies will come," he whined, letting go of his arm once his point was across. Why did he do that? Oh well, but no way did he want the human to go. If he left, then he'd be alone and bored. Well yes there was the option of doing a report to the Tallest, or planning for planet conquest. But, they all seemed quite... lonely. And boring. He'd much rather spend time with his new friend. And he did want answers. So, he straightened himself up, and moved his legs so that he was now kneeling. Questions... Hmm. Well there were many to ask on the matter, but some were quite obvious, even to the Irken. Then his mind came to rest upon a question. "Why did you do all those touches if you knew only mates did it...?"

The first thing Dib thought was...Was Zim serious about the 'zombies coming to eat my brain!' or was it just a (funny) excuse for having the boy around, since Dib knew Zim long enough to know how proud he usually was of his race and him especially. So he probably would never admit it out loud that he was plain enjoying Dib's company and for being that the only reason for wanting him to stay. Even mumbling that it was rather 'nice' to cuddle and talk was hard and unlike him to say. So it was quite a surmounting what Zim was doing, so Dib was demanding quite a lot from his friend. First he had to explain something: "Heh. Actually, Zim...there actually are no real zombies out there. At least not around your base. I-It was just a creepy story I came up with to scare you a bit. But now I guess you're taking it too serious. Ähem... sorry about that I guess." Dib rubbed his neck nervously and smiled up at Zim. Surely he would laugh about it and saying he wasn't really scared the whole time. 'Proud Irken soldier' and stuff... And about the last question: "Hmm." He tensed a bit as he thought.

"O-Okay. These were all just human signs of...of affection, as I said before. And because I r-really like you as my new and first friend I thought it would make both of us h-happy to do that. I guess my brain didn't make a difference between an m-mate and a friend; or a special one. Really! I-I haven't got any...umm..y-yeah, r-romantic feelings for you.-" Did he just say 'romantic feelings' towards Zim!? Ugh, stupid brain. "-Just, ya' know a strange kind of affection. It seemed the right thing to do. This sounds ways to weird but...s-sometimes my brain takes control over me more than normally. A strange side of me, which is emotionally u-unstable and searching for some comfort." Dib sighed. "First I thought I was just curious about getting information for 'Science's sake'-" He made quotes with his fingers "-but that's not the reason I guess."

"What?" There were no zombies? His eyes narrowed slightly... How dare the human make a fool out of him, HIM. His future slave master. He crossed his arms and looked to the side. "Zim knew that..." He grumbled. He should have known something was up... The noises were probably just GIR anyhow... But, he listened to the human's explanation carefully. So… his brain controlled him? That didn't usually happen, did it? He reached forward and poked Dib's forehead, "So your brain disobeyed you?" He asked, slightly curious about this now. If human brains disobeyed their owners, then there could be serious problems when the Irken Empire ruled over them. They could disobey orders, or even cause an uprising... He stopped his poking before the human got annoyed. Well who wouldn't get annoyed if someone kept poking you in the head? But then again, this was the first time he'd heard about such things, so maybe it was just something that happened to Dib? Or did it happen to others...? Zim just shrugged it off. Next question... Hmm. "What do normal friends do then?"

Instead of getting annoyed by the poking Dib just giggled. A curious Zim was way better than a still and frowning one. Actually the human was happy to get the chance to answer some more questions, since it would give Zim a better opinion of all the touching they'd shared. Because, Dib wanted to make it again or rather, continue with that they started... "Well, 'normal' friends do other things. They like each other still, but there isn't nearly as much touching involved as ...um we did, yeah. They hang out, while doing things like...umm...going to the cinema for example or playing video games, visiting the zoo or a open-air bath in the summer and...-" Dib really didn't know much stuff of what friends are usually doing during their freetime. Maybe one more thing. "... and helping each other in most situations or t-telling secrets to know the other better. A friend is basically someone y-you can rely on and who is accepting you the way you are. Heh. Even when the other is an alien, because..ya' know: different species." Grinning at that he mustered Zim.

'We're so different, at least at the outside, but maybe not so much on the inside. Still...it's amazing.'


	19. Chapter 19

Zim nodded slowly, letting the other know he acknowledged the information. He reached over to the side of the bed, and grabbed his shirt and up it back on… He was starting to get cold. Now that he thought about it, he really should have suspected something sooner. If 'normal' friends did what the human had just explained, no wonder that things were getting a little awkward between the two. Surprisingly, the Irken knew what most of those activities were; but to him, they were more than a little bit gross... The cinema was a horrible place, all sorts of humans sitting together, eating and drinking their horrible earth food... And usually, a disgusting little child sitting next to you, drooling... spreading all their horrible germs everywhere. The zoo; a disgusting place for keeping animals; who which usually had fleas or are also drooling from the mouth. The rest were usually the same kind of description. Mostly things to do with germs or 'earth creatures'. But then again, that was just Zim's point of view. Maybe to Dib it was a different kind of place. Less... 'horrible'...? Well, that was what 'normal' friends do, so what about- "What do special friends do then? And you still didn't answer the brain question, Dib-thing." He said, pouting slightly from not being answered the first time.

While Dib was daydreaming a little about how it would be to hang out with Zim and doing all that stuff, he snapped out of it soon when he heard Zim's voice, wanting answers and answers. "Hmm? W-What? Special friends? You mean...like us?" Dib didn't really know how to answer that. Normal friends-buddies, did stuff like he said before. And then there were mates...who did all the 'touchy' stuff they already performed...

"Umm...I guess Special Friends are kind of between normal ones and mates. Actually, Zim...it's mostly a term I came up with, trying to explain to you what all that touching and...t-trusting makes us. I just got the feeling yesterday that we could be more than normal buddies who hang out and doing stuff. B-Because ya' know we know and disliked each other for so long. I'm sure the 'normal' area is far behind us now-". He gulped and avoided Zim's gaze. Would the other know what Dib said? Hell, it was hard to comprehend even for him. Dib fell silent for a few seconds, while Zim made a thoughtful face. Then it popped up.

"Oh. My brain! My brain…? Y-Yeah, it disobeys me sometimes-have its own will. You can say that. But...now when I'm thinking about it, stuff like that only happens, when I'm interacting with you. Sometimes when we fought, in the heat of the situation, my mind went...umm...black or so. But since yesterday, since that 'rib-incident'-" Quoting fingers, "- there are moments in which I need to really arguing with two sides of my mind. It was never that hard to think clear...s-since...ya' know our cuddling in the night...-" Now, Dib bowed his head, a little ashamed, but surprised too that he was telling all this to Zim.

So, it was just a term...? Zim imagined a little timeline in his mind. One side was labelled 'enemies', the middle ' friends', the other side 'mates'... A few weeks ago, they'd defiantly be put in the 'enemy' side. But now, sitting here, having quite a deep, meaningful conversation, they were half way between 'friends' and 'mates'…? It quite shocked the Irken how they'd ever even be at the friends mark, let alone half way to the mate point... It also kind of scared him. He looked at the human's face, which was avoiding his gaze, and soon after, bowed in shame. Zim didn't like seeing Dib like this; he liked to see him happy, like moments ago, when they were cuddling. But he also had to keep in mind about that timeline... But also about what the boy had just said... Which didn't entirely make sense to him. "You're making no sense..." Zim mumbled, wanting a more clear response. If the 'normal' friend area was 'far behind' them now, they'd stay special friends? The Irken was fine with that, happy in-fact, but, the way the human was acting was strange. Zim was just about to reach for Dib's hand, but thought against it... Yes it was reassuring, but would also, maybe, make the moment worse for the boy. And he didn't want that.

Of course. When his own words echoed in Dib's head, he agreed with Zim. It made no sense the way it came out of his mouth, especially for Zim... Zim. Zim! 'Why must he make everything so hard for me!? So confusing and... So pleasant! Sure, that's a good thing but still...My brain's cracked because of him!' Obviously, Dib's rational side made an attempt to push forward; the side which didn't like Zim at all... Dib looked up to Zim, a deep frown on his face and suddenly lunged forward and grabbed him by his strange collar, taking a fistful of the alien's shirt. His voice shook.

"W-What...What did you do to me, Zim!? I d-don't understand what I think...or feel! All that t-touching and cuddling we did... Why? We can't do that! YOU think I'm making no sense, hmm? No. No! You're the one who doesn't make any sense! It's...it's all your fault, Zim." Dib whimpered and lessened his grip a bit, dropping his head again. "I-I don't know what happened... a-and that's not good-".

For a moment, the human just looked like he was thinking. But then, when the human looked up, Zim was none too pleased to see his expression... It was a frown... A big one. It looked like they were back a few weeks ago, in the middle of one of their arguments. He was about to ask if he was okay, maybe his wound was hurting, but then suddenly Dib lunged at him! Zim's eyes widened and gasped slightly, not expecting that at all... They were talking to calm a moment ago, now this!? He grabbed that the other's hand, which was at his collar, trying to pull it off. 'Irk this human is strong when angry...' he thought. And soon, his face too was in a scowl. He knew he shouldn't have trusted the human. "It's not Zim's fault! You're the one with all the touching!" He protested, growling slightly as he talked; but soon realized that the human boy wasn't being aggressive, he was just confused as well. The Irken tilted his head to the side slightly, to still see the human's face once he had dropped it again. This time he spoke about softer, and lost his scowl: "I didn't do anything to you... honestly." He noticed the human's grip loosen slightly. "I'm sorry... I know it is partly my fault too. I should have just fixed your ribs and kicked you out of my base..." He admitted, looking down also.

For a few seconds they really were back into their fighting manner, barely different from the past, but soon this scene vanished and was replaced with the thick silence between both of them after Zim has spoken. Dib's hands fell completely off of Zim and into his lap. They both showed their hostile side from the past. Zim's growling was proof enough for Dib. And worst of all...the Irken was right. Dib's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Yeah...You're right. Again! I was the one who started all this...stuff. The c-cuddling and weird conversations about 'Special Friends'-" he laughed bitterly "-knowing you are the only one believing this crap. Heh. It would have been way better and easier to just kick me out." Dib clenched his fists and looked in Zim's direction, but avoiding eye-contact. Those dangerous eyes... "B-But it's not too late to do it now. You can still just kick me out. So we won't be so... confused anymore." It was hard to believe that he really said it aloud but he couldn't help it. "Maybe it's the best to never speak about it again. S-Sorry I made you feel so...weird, Zim."

It was fair to say that Zim was more than slightly relieved when Dib let go of his shirt. But also regretful... What kind of friend makes the other close to hate them after only two days? ...Him, that's who. He let out a sigh of defeat. He didn't want the human to go, but what would they do if he actually stayed? It'd probably just turn awkward... He looked down at his boots, and started tracing the lines and scratches which were on them, before turning his gaze to the side. "I don't want you to go..." He mumbled through his teeth. It wasn't easy to understand, but there was no way he was repeating it... He narrowed his eyes slightly and forced the rest to come out. "Zim's a bad friend... I know that. No friend makes the other suffer the pain of an operation without any pain-relievers, or makes them feel awkward... Or makes the other angry... But, I try..." This is extremely difficult for him to say, especially to a human... To this one particular. His old enemy. All the while saying this, his teeth were clenched together, almost making the words forcefully. "...Zim's just not meant to get along with people. Humans and Irkens alike.-" He looked back to the human -"But being friends with you is kind of... fun. And I want to spend more time with you, but no touchy if this is what it causes! But, maybe, we could do some of those friend activities you said though...? And you dare repeat any of this to anyone!" He spoke the last part quite quickly. No way was this conversation to be repeated. Zim hated opening up to people, speaking his mind. But sometimes, it had to be done. He forced a small smile, hoping that speech would have helped Dib slightly.

Dib could well imagine how hard it actually was for Zim to say that. It was kind of a confession and Zim would normally never do such thing, especially when it was negative about himself. On the other hand, so many things happened the last 2 days which were unimaginable before that Dib wasn't that surprised about Zim in that moment. No. It even increased the sympathy toward the little green Irken (of course, he wasn't THAT small in his own eyes). Anyhow, Dib truly expected Zim to kick him out or at least ask him to go for a while. So the boy was really stirred about what Zim said. Sadly he couldn't remember when someone said to him to not go - to stay with because it was fun. Well, that never happened before. But also he was kind of worried how Zim thought about himself in the matter. Dib just sat there and mustered Zim for a while before speaking: "You're not a bad friend, Zim! You didn't do anything wrong, really. Remember, you were the one who actually helped me in the first place... I-I was injured and in the end YOU fixed it...fixed me -" Maybe in more than just one way. "- and the pain was worth it." Now he fidgeted in his spot and stared at the sheets.

"A-And I am the one with all the touching, as you said. So, it's my fault when anything gets awkward. Yeah, and I'm quite comfortable around you, strange. I like to just sit here and speak, even about that stuff. Heh. As you may have expected, I'm also not the most social guy, but at least you're getting along with me, right?" Dib didn't like that sad frown on the others face. Smiling was way better! But what he could do to cheer him up? But the most important thing Dib now knew was: Zim seems to be a really sentient being. That part of him was just locked deep down inside his...'Squeedly Spooch'. Dib began to see his friend with whole new eyes.

Now with his ego dropped way, WAY down, Zim listened to the boy's own little speech. And it kind of lifted his mood. He understood how the human was feeling, and it was probably close to his own feelings. Confused. A little angry. But over everything, understanding. They'd found out more about each other in these past few days than they had the time they'd known each other. Well, he had learnt stuff about the human at least. Before he'd thought of Dib as nothing more than an inferior, dumb 'earth-pig'. But now, he knew that the boy was quite smart, brave (who else would have their flesh ripped open without any anaesthetic?), and... kind. Though he'd probably never say that out loud. His ego had been destroyed enough as it was. "Right," he replied. The other humans were really stupid; not giving the time of day to Dib. Oh well, their loss. Thinking of which, neither of them were, as the humans called it, 'popular'. Neither of them had a real friend, and mostly everyone hated them at Skool. So it was kind of funny how the 'weird kids' had only just become friends. But, at least they were friends now. "It's weird..." He mumbled; he knew that it was kind of off topic, but he felt it had to be said.

"We're so different, but so alike at the same time." He finished. It was true. They were different by their species, beliefs, goals and language. But, so similar how they acted, felt, popularity, and... well their goals too. Both of their goals were basically to please, and belong onto their own people; but, in different ways... Destroying and killing, versus, discovering and learning... But now, here they were, friends. Zim smiled slightly at this thought.

"Right." Dib saw it on Zim's face, that they were thinking the same road. "Totally right. We're like two sides of the same... mind, or something like that. So I guess I have to stay then. Maybe I should move to your base from now on. Heh." It was meant as a joke to lighten the mood a bit, but he barely said it, he was musing about what it would be like to hang out every day, or rather -live together- with Zim. Unintentionally, Dib made a funny goofy smile again. It would be hilarious and probably quite eventful. Either way, better than to sit at home and mope, unnoticed and...Sad.

Zim was just about to say something about that 'move to your base' comment, but stopped. He knew that it was a joke, but when he looked at the humans face, it looked like he was daydreaming... He had seen how Dib was treated in his own house, and it wasn't exactly pleasant. The boy's father-unit-thingy was never there, and gave the human no time. And his sister... Zim shuddered slightly; Dib's sister was just plain evil, to everyone. She may be young in years, but Irk she was scary. Now that they were friends, it didn't make the Irken feel very good thinking about Dib going back there... But, they'd only been friends for a few days... Wouldn't it be kind of weird? ...Then again, he didn't like the thought of being stuck with GIR. He didn't mind before, since he knew no better, but now, now he'd spent time with someone who was actually sane, he didn't want to go back to his old living style. He thought about it for quite a while; checking the humans face from time to time... What about his mission? Or the Tallest!? He tensed at what they might say... But... They wouldn't know if when they called (or when he called them more like) he hid the human... Wait, he was actually taking this seriously!? It was only a joke by the human... He sighed. "Well, would you want to...?" He asked, expecting the boy to protest, saying it was only a joke...

Instantly, Dib snapped out of it when he heard Zim's request. He sounded unsure and...pondering. Was really considering this? A human in his base? Dib!? They both wondered about the same thing again! But it wouldn't be too bad to stay here some time, maybe for a few days? Yeah, like a longer sleep-over, daytime involved. Dib looked around the room for the umpteenth time. He got the feeling they would spend most of the time here, since it was calm and comfy here, with a low chance to be confronted by GIR. So, testing the waters, he just pretended to be serious. Zim didn't want him to go after all. He held out his hand, palm up and looked to the side, slightly blushing.

"Umm...I-I would want to stay here...maybe for a bit longer, since we're getting along so well." Zim must be really lonely here. So dark and cold and...underground-like. Of course, the Irken wouldn't say it aloud, but Dib knew it none the less. Their fights were truly the only exiting event on a daily basis, but it seemed it was only a prestige for...this. Dib smiled, already thinking what he would need from his house to stay at the base for a while.

The Irken felt relieved when the human agreed. Yeah, a few days would probably be best. He thought about all the things they could do. Those friend activities the boy had mentioned before. He was quite looking forward to it now. But would the human need anything...? "Do we need to collect any of your earth belongings?" And while they were at it, they'd need to get more of the human's food. Since he only had a few human snack foods left, and while Irken snacks were edible with humans, the boy couldn't just eat snacks for the next few days; it was fine with Irkens, but maybe not so much with humans. He looked down, and saw that Dib had his hand outstretched. Did he want to hold hands again...? Zim guessed he did, so reached out his own hand, and grabbed the human's.

Feeling Zim's hand was all he need at the moment. It was such a relieving gesture. Dib looked up to him, not even noticing the big grin plastered on his face. "I guess I don't need much. Some fresh clothes and my laptop and...ehy! I just remembered; there are some horror and space movies in my house's cellar, along with an old games console. Ya' know, since I haven't used it in years. I will also bring that here, so I can see if you're any good at playing 'earthly' video games. Yeah. That should be fun, seeing how you will use the controller with just your three fingers. Ha!" He held up the green hand and shook it in front of Zim's face.

Zim mentally took note of the things Dib had listed which he needed to bring, but soon got distracted when he mentioned movies and a games console. He guessed it'd be kind of funny to see what humans think space is like, they probably wouldn't know that much. Heck, they think it's a 'big achievement' to just land of their orbiting moon! 'Inferior human technology,' he thought, shaking his head and smiling slightly. But his small smile soon turned into a competitive grin. "Oh, I'll be able to use your earth game controller just fine. And it'll also be fun to see how you react when you lose at your own planet's game." He said smugly.

"We'll see, Zim...I'm not the best at those games, but beating YOU shouldn't be that hard." To be honest, Dib doubted he'd really have a chance against Zim, since he probably was familiar with his alien technology and stuff. But the boy was too stubborn to say that aloud. He guessed it would just be plain funny to play with Zim, no matter who wins. Dib imagined how Zim would babble about his superior race or how he travelled through the galaxy and visited other various planets and... Wait, what about his 'mission to take over the earth'!? Dib froze on the spot and his hand in Zim's obviously convulsed. Gulping, he suddenly wanted to go and get some fresh air first. "Okay, Zim. So, I should go home now and grab all the stuff and... ya' know.." He quickly crawled off the bed and soon stood in the doorframe, turning to Zim. "I-I'll be back in an hour or so." For some moments he stood there, waiting for a last response before he goes.

And there was their rivalry again, but this time, more relaxed. Joking even. It was way better than fighting rivalry, that was for sure. But, the carefree moment left when Zim felt Dib's hand jerk slightly. He looked up and saw that the human seemed to be somewhat on edge... "Oh, ok..." Was all he could manage. Did the human want to leave that fast? Had he said something that could have offended the boy? He looked down and recalled their conversation... No, nothing too offensive... He looked back up and saw that Dib was already by the doorframe. He put his now empty hand in his lap. He'd have to say, he was kind of hoping he'd be able to go with the human, but then again, Dib probably didn't want to spend ALL his time with him. It was understandable. "If you get lost in the base, just ask the computer for directions." He suggested, before waving goodbye.

Dib waved back and ran into the corridor from before. He tried to remember the way out but as expected he got lost in the hallways and meekly asked into the void air. "Ummm... computer?" Raising his voice a bit, he tried it again. "Computer! C-Can you bring me up to the living room...please?" It was still weird for Dib to just call machinery, speaking with a giant computer. So it was a better idea to get used to stuff like that, while he stayed at the base. He can surely learn so much during his 'visit'.

As soon as he saw the human round off around the corner, he slowly lowered his waving hand. It was only then, he realized how much he trusted the human if he let him walk around his base alone. But that's what friends do. Dib had explained that earlier. Memories of the last two days came back to the Irken. They were probably some of the best memories he had, and he'd hold on to them, that was for sure. He raised the hand that Dib had held, and just continued to stare at it blankly, before smiling slightly. He had a friend. A real friend. Not like that idiot Keef was; who he was only 'friends' with to look normal. No, this was a real friendship, and Zim was happy for that. He decided he should go tell GIR that the human was staying round for a few days, and program the garden gnomes not to shoot at him either. With that, he stood up, and made his way out of his room, and back to his lab, where the main controls of the base were.

"Urghhh..." The computer sounded really annoyed. "You want to get up? Sure... Take a step to the left." Dib did as he was told and immediately whooshed up like before. With a light feeling in his stomach, Dib rushed through the door and outside. The fresh breeze and the warm sun were very nice. First it was way too bright for him, so he blinked for a few minutes while he walked to his house. Well, he stayed the last 1 and a half days inside the rather gloomy base of Zim, in that one room mostly. When he reached the door and entered he saw no one. Looking up at the clock on the wall...it was already 2 pm. Gaz was probably in her room, playing like usual. He took two steps at once and called out on the floor. "Gaz? I'm certified sick and slept over at Zim's house." Dib knew how weird that sounded, especially for his sister. But...he didn't care. He just needed some time to think before getting back to the base. So he entered his room and stared at the bed. It was warm inside, like a normal human bedroom, but still it felt kinda cold to him. So dark and silent it was in there. He was away from Zim for only about 10 minutes, but when he looked at his bed and the rest of his small room, he wanted to have the others company more than ever. He even let out a tiny whimper. Dib quickly snatched his computer and made a mad dash for the cellar.


	20. Chapter 20

Once he'd arrived at his lab, Zim sat down at the main computer's chair and started typing in codes and commands. He made sure that the garden gnomes were programmed not to fire at Dib when he passed them, and that he was a visitor for a few days, and not to see him as an intruder. But, just to be on the safe side, he also programmed in that any signs of violence from the human, and the settings would go back to normal. But, he was sure there would be no need for that. After that was all done, he leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh... It sure was quiet without the human. And boring. Had he really done this for the past few years? ...How dull… After a few minutes of just staring up at the ceiling, Zim decided he'd finally go up and face GIR... Oh what fun that'd be... Zim scowled slightly and made his way to the elevator at the side of the room. Once he'd reached the main floor, he saw that the mess from yesterday was still there, but GIR was nowhere in sight... He checked the kitchen, living room, and fridge. Nope, he was gone. Probably out, annoying the neighbours. Well, better them than him. He looked up at the time and saw the human had only been gone for a few minutes... How was he meant to wait an hour!? Zim groaned in annoyance and went to sit on the coach to wait for Dib to return.

Once arriving at the cellar of his house, Dib rummaged some minutes through several cartons full of Science books and old inventions of his father, which weren't a success or malfunctioned. Professor Membrane was as much an inventor as a scientist, but every time much too busy with that stuff to be able to get home for more than just two or three times a year. This fact was always depressing Dib the most, especially since his mother died. Hunched over one of the cartons he sighed out. Every time that thought invaded his mind, Dib felt like falling into a dark bottomless hole. Mostly he let them flow while lying on his bed, a cup of tea on the bed stand. And mostly he silently cried for two hours or more until he was too tired. Quickly shaking his head to cast off this image he stood up and searched some more until he found his old gamecube and some random Thriller and Horror movies. He didn't look them up and just grabbed them. Arms full of stuff he climbed the steps back to the living room, placing all on the couch. Then he ran back to his room to snatch a backpack, his (almost never used) mobile phone and after musing about it, also the laptop and a small camera. Right in the process of packing the backpack, Dib glanced at the clock in the kitchen and saw that he still got about 40 minutes left till the hour was over. Now he refused that said it would take an hour to prepare. We wanted to go back to Zim. Now. Would Zim mind if Dib got here a bit sooner? Maybe it was a good idea to let the Irken have some time for himself before they would hang out several days together. So, with a deep sigh he sat on the couch, on arm grabbing the backpack and waited for the hour to be finally over. All the while Dib tried to think of some nice activities which doesn't necessarily involved touching… although it would be nice to have some here and there.

After around 14 minutes of tiresome waiting, just staring at a blank wall, counting the seconds that passed, it'd have to be known that the Irken was starting to get bored... He'd even be quite glad to see his insane SIR unit... But no such luck came. GIR was missing, and Dib was still getting ready. Zim rested his head in his hand, which was perched on the arm of the couch. Now he really regretted not going with the human. At least that way they could talk. But, if Dib was going to be spending the next few days in his base, away from his family (well, sister to be exact), and was probably still slightly nervous of the base, he probably wanted to just relax at his own house for a bit... He added up how many earth seconds it had been since the boy had left, around 1619... So, 27 minutes... Sometimes it was good and bad to have an internal clock/timer in your Pak... Zim let out another sigh. Maybe he should go do something else for a while... No. He didn't really feel like it. Suddenly, a little pink light started flashing behind him; he noticed it from the corner of his eye. It was a long distance call... He'd never had one before. He stood up quickly and turned to face the monkey picture. "Computer! Answer the call!" As soon as he said that, the picture flipped around, and a screen appeared in its place. The screen went static for a brief moment before an image of 2 tall Irkens appeared. One red, one purple. The Tallest! ...Wow, he'd never had a call from the Tallest; he'd always be the one to call them. Heh, maybe they were beginning to see how loyal he was to them. He grinned up at them. "My Tallest-" He bowed "-It's an honour to talk to you again! I have new information on the humans! I've found out tha-" He started, but got interrupted by 'Tallest Red', "Not now Zim. We have something we wish to inform you on." He stated, quite clearly and very seriously. Zim kept his smile, but as the taller Irken continued to speak, it slowly faded...

Again and again Dib glanced at the clock. He couldn't help himself. As soon as the hour would be over, he would run to the base and finally spend some days with Zim. Only Zim. He guessed it would be the best time in his young life by now. There was still so much about Zim. How he was thinking and...feeling. And there was that dreamy expression on the boy's face again, while in his mind he was laughing with Zim. Running around, playing Hide and Seek... Heh. Maybe he could even teach the Irken to ride a bike. Yeah. He kept that idea in mind. So it went on and on. And when Dib looked up at the clock again, it was already around 3 pm. Yes. The hour was over. Quickly he checked his belongings and rushed through the door. He didn't know that Gaz was standing on the stair head, watching his brother leaving. Grumbling, she shook her head and went back to her room. Outside, Dib jogged all the way to the base until he reached the end of the lawn with the gnomes on it. He stopped and looked at them. 'I hope, Zim switched them off.' Not that it was really necessary to do that, he was in the base before...but this time he was a welcomed friend, so it would be a nice feeling to know that Zim shut them down for his human friend. And indeed, Dib walked to the door unharmed and therefore smiling. On the doorstep, instead of knocking, he called out for the Irken.

"Zim? Zim, I'm back. I got some nice movies and even the-". He stopped his sentence, because he heard voices coming from inside the house. One of them was clearly Zim's and he was...yelling and... It sounded like cryyyyiiiing!? It couldn't be! But there were other voices too which sounded kinda amused. What was happening in there? Really puzzled now, Dib took the doorknob and called out again "ZIM? What's up in there? Are you okay?"

To start with, Zim thought it was only a joke... a test even, to test his loyalty to his mission. But as both of them continued to speak, mocking him even, he knew that they were serious... "But... I was in Operation Impending Doom 1... You sent me to this planet to take it over!" He argued. It couldn't be true... It mustn't be true... But no, it was obviously true. The Irken felt something start to fill up in his eyes... Water? But this stuff didn't burn... He was crying... But he didn't care at that moment. "You have to be lying! DON'T LIE TO ZIM!" He screamed, feeling nothing but anger and sadness now. But all the taller Irkens could do was laugh... And then they continued to speak again: "You ruined it; now, we have to go, enjoy your banishment. Any further calls will be rejected." Said Tallest Purple calmly and in an almost sing-song voice. Zim continued to stare up at the screen, screaming nonsense about how they couldn't do this. "My Tallest! Please! Give me one last chance!" He begged, falling to his knees, putting his hands together in the way someone might pray. "Goodbye Zim," the tall red Irken said, before the screen went static again... The now heartbroken Irken stayed on the floor, but let his hands fall to his sides. No, they'd call back any second... laugh. Say it was a joke. ...Nothing. Zim clenched his teeth and screamed a wordless scream of frustration. It couldn't be real... He was having a hallucination... or had fallen asleep... Yeah! That had to be it! He shut his eyes as tight as he could, counted to 10, and opened them. ...The same place. It had happened. He had been banished... He heard a sound from outside... Dib. He looked towards the door, but didn't move. He couldn't move that far... He didn't want to… He moved himself so that he had his face in his knees. No way was the human to see him like this... He knew he should just send him away... He wanted to be alone now. But, he also wanted the human's company at the same time... "Computer... Unlock the door..." He mumbled quietly, and sure enough, the front door unlocked.

The sounds from inside lasted for more moments. It was painful to hear, but Dib was also curious when Zim didn't answer him, so...he just stood there on the doorstep, listening to the 'conversation'. He didn't understand the actual wording, but the sounds, especially Zim's ones, were bad enough... Waiting till it ended and taking the backpack in one hand, he spoke up with a slightly shaking voice: "Z-Zim? I'm coming in now." He slowly opened the door and stepped in... and froze on the spot. The backpack slid out of his hand and Dib stared with terrified, wide eyes to the thing on the floor...which was Zim! He was sitting on the floor, curled up into a sobbing ball. Judging from the sounds, he knew it was something bad...but he never expected this scene. Zim was obviously crying and devastated. Suddenly he looked smaller than Dib has ever seen him. No proud attitude and shouting about his 'amazingness' like usual. Just...this! So without a word Dib broke free from his rigor and slowly walked to Zim, kneeled down to him and put his hand on the Irken's knees, rubbing them gently. "Zim. I'm here now. Y-Your Dib-Friend. So tell me what happened." There was nothing more to say at the moment. He certainly wasn't good at this, so Dib stayed calm instead and waited for Zim to stop trembling so much...

Zim immediately looked up when he felt the other start to rub his knees. The human boy looked actually concerned for him... But he knew that Dib would be at least slightly happy when he heard the news... He was no longer to destroy this planet... Dib had won their battle after all these years... He quickly hid his face again, remembering that he was crying. He mentally cursed himself for showing this side of himself. He held his breath for a moment, trying to calm down his own breathing. "I-It is over..." He began... He really didn't want to repeat this, but the boy had asked... quite sincerely concerned too. "Zim is b-b...banished. I am no longer to destroy your p-planet... They said I'm a defect... You should be h-happy. Your stinking race is safe..." He said, though it was mumbled due to his face being hidden still. He wanted to shout, to rant about how it was all Dib's fault. But it wasn't the human's fault. It was his... But he'd never admit that, even to himself. He curled up on himself even more, wishing he could just disappear. He didn't have a purpose anymore... An Irken's purpose in life was to serve their empire, but now, he didn't even have that. That thought brought even more tears to his eyes.

Dib couldn't believe what the other told him as he stopped his rubbing. Zim was banished? Here on Earth? But...wasn't it his mission to take over? Actually, it was the reason why he left so suddenly an hour ago. How were they able to be friends, if Zim wanted to destroy or invade the planet!? Dib originally intended to confront Zim with this conversation sooner or later, as hard as it was. But he was really afraid it would revive their enemyship again. But now...Zim got no reason to destroy any human anymore. So Dib was terribly torn apart between glee and pity. Between a triumphant burst of laugher and a shocked whimper, seeing Zim like this. In the end, all he did was try to comfort Zim in that hard moment. Earth aside...his friend needed him now, so he wasn't thinking about himself or his advantages. He was still shocked, so mostly his instincts kicked in when gently took then Irken's head on his hands and lifted it, forcing to look into his own amber eyes.

"Zim, I'm really sorry. It must be...s-so hard for you, but I'm here for you if that helps. M-Maybe that is over, but we're both still friends... if you want to," he added unsurely and looked to the side. Maybe Zim wanted to be alone... or not being his friend anymore!

Looking into the other boy's eyes, once his head had been lifted, Zim held his breath again, since his breathing rate had picked up again due to more crying. Irk, he hated emotions... "Yes we're still friends... Now I'm not p-part of the ...e-empire... anymore, I guess I don't have to obey their rules... So, friendship is f-fine." He admitted, forcing a tiny smile. Now that he no longer had the empire, he only had the human left... His friend. Everyone else hated him; and Dib for that matter. It was kind of funny... Dib was rejected by his people, and Zim was rejected by his... But it wasn't a laughing funny... more tragic than anything. But, why had the empire banished him now? He'd been a loyal and hard-working soldier... Hadn't he? But then again... He did destroy half of Irk that one time, even if he did put the fires out... "And Zim doesn't want to be alone..." He thought out-loud, but it was barely over a whisper. And he didn't care if the human had heard it... It was true. If he had to be stuck on this filthy planet, he did NOT want to be alone with just GIR for company... That'd be torture.

It was adorable how open Zim was able to speak, but only around Dib! The same tiny smile like Zim's appeared on Dib's face. He pulled down the Irken's knees with some force and pulled him into a tight hug. "H-Hey, me neither, Zim. It must be so hard for you; s-so is there anything I can do? Besides staying with you?" He already answered his question when the snatched one of Zim's antennas, hanging limply by his side, looking like a wilted plant. He gently rubbed the base of it with three fingers-up and down-, to not shock Zim with it all too much, knowing the tip is way more sensitive than the rest of the appendage.

"Umm...does that help...?"


	21. Chapter 21

When the other boy hugged him, Zim felt the sadness leave him for a brief moment, before coming back, but less intense. And he was thankful for that. He rested his head on the other boy's shoulder, and hugged Dib back. Zim was just about to answer the human's question, but was stopped when he felt Dib's hand on his antenna; but, it wasn't as much of an intense feeling as it was before. Which he was glad of. He didn't want a repeat of earlier... He tightened his own hug.

"Kind of... yeah." He nodded, feeling his antenna tingle slightly. It didn't help the fact of him being banished, but, it helped in the way that he knew someone actually cared about him. That he had a friend. Even if he was human. Now that he actually thought about it, Dib had shown him more affection and care in 2 days, than the empire did in his entire life... This fact shocked him quite a bit.

"Good." Dib mumbled. Fondling with Zim's feelers was a kinda relaxing task for him too. Zim was still a bit tense, but who could blame him? At least he wasn't crying anymore; just a small tear was dropping from his friend's eyes. It was so surreal when Dib first saw Zim, sitting on the floor and hiding his face. So small and vulnerable. Now he felt much more needed and welcome, hugging his friend!

"I care for you, Zim. D-Don't forget that." To say he was sorry that the other was banished was just half true. Of course, the fact itself was very harsh and he felt sincere pity for Zim. Otherwise, it was the reason that Zim wasn't able to continue his 'mission' anymore, and that in turn was positive. He wasn't sure if there would have been a way to stay friends with Zim if he intended to complete his mission to take over. But he didn't feel any triumphant because of that. Surprisingly enough, that conflict -friendship against mission- wasn't really present in Dibs mind the last 2 days until an hour ago, when he left the base because of that, out of panic or so. But he didn't feel any triumphant because of that. It was just plain...well, lain mixed emotions! But mostly a strong urge to comfort Zim and make him smile again. All the while the boy gently rubbed the thin antenna, unconsciously getting towards the tip along the tapering length. Twitching included. Would it be a good idea to do some of the planned 'friend's activities'? Something to distract the small Irken and calm him down a bit.

Those few, simple words, meant a hell of a lot more to the Irken than you would have thought... No-one had cared about him before, not even his own race. A lot more made sense to him now. He understood a lot more of the past events. He understood why most of his people feared him being around... Why the Tallest always seemed annoyed when he called them... Why the 'planet that was so mysterious, no one had even heard of it' was nothing more than a piece of paper on the map; because it wasn't even meant to exist. And, if he had destroyed the earth, he would have also destroyed his first and only friend. Zim shut his eyes tight and clenched his fists slightly out of anger. They had played him as a fool... A defect, with a defective Pak to match. But, he quickly opened his eyes when he felt Dib's fingers get closer and closer to the tip of his antenna. The cloudy feeling was starting to come back into his mind. He tried to just ignore it, but it was tricky. He closed his eyes again and bit his lip. He wouldn't mind so much if it didn't cause such a scene like earlier; when they had a slight argument... If he just kept his mouth shut, didn't react too much and waited for the human to stop, it would be fine. Dib would surely stop when he realized what he was doing. Suddenly a question came into his mind.

"Will you still be trying to e-expose me to your F...BI-place...?" He asked, voice slightly accusing, but not too much to offend Dib.

Dib just heard the question but didn't answer right away...Quite the opposite of what he expected; Zim was getting gradually tenser. And right then Dib noticed his curious fingers, reaching the end of the stalk. Sometimes they got their own will it seems. Putting one and one together, he quickly let go of it. But somewhat he wanted to keep his hands occupied. Strange. So the next thing he touched was Zim's wet cheeks. He wiped the left tears away with his thumbs and cupped Zim's green face, mesmerized by those (now not dark anymore - way brighter) eyes of his.

"FBI? Y-You mean...oh. No! Why should I do that, Zim? You're not trying to harm this planet anymore, because you... ummm... oh, sorry! Ya' know... But more importantly, you're my friend and friends definitely don't harm each other, like exposing or giving them to mean people like the FBI, which would harm you even more. So d-don't worry. I will not do that. That's the past." It was still mildly surprising how nicely it came from the boy's mouth. But it doesn't feel right anymore. He was a totally new Dib in that matter. "I-I just don't wanna lose you, Zim. That's all... It would be so boring without you. B-before it wasn't because of our screaming at each other and insulting on a daily basis. Heh." Now Dib was able to chuckle about it. How 'frisky' they were... "In retrospect it looks like a big, odd game we played for years. A-And now it isn't boring because we got each other as close friends, very special ones, yes. Getting along so well and cuddling and speaking and telling stories and eating and all that stuff." He listed off all the things they did. Very nice memories...

The Irken let out a slight sigh of relief when the human let go of his antenna, and when he mentioned about not sending him to the FBI. "Yeah, some of our 'battles' were kind of pathetic..." Zim agreed. But, he'd have to admit, some of them weren't as stupid as some would think. Like when they had a battle with an entire planet. But then again... That was also a kind of stupid idea. Zim looked back into the human's eyes and smiled slightly. Maybe being... banished wouldn't be so bad after all. Since at least he'd have company, and wouldn't have to worry about working all the time either. And-

"Hey! I just thought of something." If he was no longer an invader, then, he could basically do what he wished. Heh, maybe there were some upsides to this change of events after all. "If Zim's no longer part of the... empire... then, I can do what I want right?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. If that was true though, then he could change from the uniform he always wears... He'd always been teased at Skool for wearing pink (he'd never understood why), so now he could change that. And if he was going to be stuck on this planet, he'd have to become more 'normal' anyway. "Could Zim change the way he dresses? You humans don't seem to like pink... Why?" He added, gesturing to his uniform. He'd seen human friends at the mall shopping; maybe they could do that too? It was a friend's activity after all.

That smile from Zim told Dib he was out of the woods for now and settled down Good job, Dib! "Yeah..." he whispered absently. Stupid fights. When Dib heard Zim's unsure suggestion he couldn't help but laugh. His hands fell in his lap. It was rather hard to imagine Zim without his usual clothes... that odd uniform-thingy and tight, black pants. A somewhat...naked Zim appeared in his mind, causing him to blush greatly and shuffle nervously. 'Ooo, bad option, brain! Stop!' He mentally complained and soon it was replaced with an image of Zim in loose blue jeans and a sweater. Dib believed Zim would like some baggier and therefore comfy clothes instead. And maybe... sneakers instead of boots. Otherwise, Dib liked that thing about Zim, because he himself also liked his boots. 'Oh well, let's see.' The 'naughty' pictures were gone now...

"Y-Yeah, I guess some new clothes would suit you. You always wore that one outfit. We could go to the mall down the street. I'll pay, that's the least I can do for you." With that, he stood up and reached out his hand. "Come on, I'm sure we'll find something you like." 'Shopping with Zim. Heh. With my alien friend...' A wide grin was seen on Dib's pale face and he was raring to do the shopping. And got somewhat excited.

When he saw the blush form on Dib's face, Zim became slightly worried. Wasn't it a friend's activity...? He could have sworn it was. He'd seen many a human friend group go into the mall... Well, then he didn't know what friends were, but now he did. But when the human stood up and grinned, he knew he hadn't said something wrong. Zim accepted the helping hand and stood up also. He brushed the dust off his uniform. It'd be weird to wear anything else... He was quite used to wearing this. Then he remembered he was without his disguise. He didn't feel like going all the way back down to his room to pick up his previous one... "Computer! Disguise!" Zim shouted at the ceiling. And sure enough, another wig and pair of contacts came out from the ceiling. Zim caught them and put them on. He hated his disguise... The wig was uncomfortable and heavy on his antennae, and his contacts were itchy. But, it was all he could do. After he was sure his disguise was on securely, he made his way to the door and opened it. He also realized he was without his gloves... But Zim just shrugged it off, turned around and waited for Dib to follow.


	22. Chapter 22

Without further words, Dib grabbed the others hand and lead him to the door. When he opened it, the sun was shining mighty from the cloudless sky. It was a perfect day to hang out with friends, or in this case...shopping with an alien. For a few moments the boy just stood there in the doorframe and looked ahead, day-dreaming like so often.

Zim narrowed his eyes slightly when the light from the sun reached him. He hated how bright and warm this planet's sun was. Back on Irk most things were quite dull which only a few exceptions of light from machinery.

Looking around he couldn't see many people, but then again, the street where his base was wasn't especially busy at all. Except on Halloween... Suddenly he heard a kid screaming. Looking around to where the source of the noise was coming from, he saw GIR chasing a child around in the neighbour's front garden.

Zim did not want to have to explain what had just happened to his robot, nor have to deal with the scene in front of him, so he grabbed Dib's arm and dragged him quickly in the opposite direction of the insane robot; but also in the direction of the town's mall. He looked towards the human who seemed to be in a world of his own...

What was it with Dib and day-dreaming these past few days? Zim waved his hand in front of the boy's face to get his attention. "Why do you keep day-dreaming human?"

Dib wasn't really aware being dragged forward until he saw a green thing flying in his view field. "Huh?" He looked to the side...Zim. OH, right. On the way to shopping clothes. "D-Day-dreaming? Really? Well...I guess, it's so...unlike you to imagine Zim without his usual dark pink uniform. Or rather a dress-like… thingy." He chuckled at this.

Indeed, it somewhat looked like a dress, at least for him. "B-But it suits you v-very nice, Zim!" He quickly added, knowing Zim didn't like the dress-comment. "And most humans find pink… umm... Female, that's all. Usually girls are wearing mainly pink clothes." Dib said, remembering the Irken's question from before.

They walked straight to the mall; hand-holding... Dib didn't notice it yet. It just felt too natural. "But in your case...it matches your eyes very nice." While he sope, a blush was forming on his pale face, getting more intense, until it reached his ears. "So, if you ask me, we should keep a good part of your new outfit pink or red."

Pink was considered female on Earth? Back on Irk, purple was considered female, and pink male. So, that was new information. Zim pouted slightly at the mention of a dress. "It's not a dress, it's a tunic," he corrected, glaring at the human slightly.

Humans had weird ideas on what certain clothes were. He'd seen some humans dress especially weird.

"And the only reason I wear this thing, is because it is the rules of being a ...invader." He explained. "You have to wear the proper uniform. Like some of your Earth Skools. You need uniforms in some of them. It's kind of the same thing."

But the difference between them was Skool didn't teach you anything, just about how all humanity was 'doomed'. Well, their class was taught only that at least. Zim couldn't help but blush slightly at the eye comment. And when he looked towards Dib, he noticed that he also had a blush, but his was intense.

"Humans..." He mumbled to himself, shaking his head slightly; before turning his gaze back in front of him.

"I already guessed it's a uniform. But now that you aren't... an invader anymore it's more of a burden for you I think. It was your idea after all, a good one." Dib was just stating the obvious. Obviously Zim was stranded here on Earth for a while, maybe permanently. Would he have some kind of… home sickness?

It must be a horrible feeling to be that far away from his home. Otherwise, Zim wasn't really appreciated or wanted by his people; that much Dib knew by now. Luckily, these depressing thoughts vanished for now as the mall came in sight right across the street when they both rounded a corner. It was a huge grey block, like a big bunker with no visible windows.

Its facade was covered with all sign of the different shops, restaurants, boutiques and other shopping possibilities, which were harboured inside. A consumption temple which feeds all material needs of the modern metropolitan. Dib was sure Zim would be literally overpowered by all the new human things, items and foods in there. The boy snickered. And he would be the one explaining all this to his alien friend.

Hopefully he won't be panicked too much by all the humans, crammed into one big house. But hey, now he got his Dib-Friend by his side, so nothing bad could happen, right? The pair entered the door with a loud 'whoossh' and was instantly confronted with a sea of noises.

As soon as the electric doors opened, they were immediately engulfed by the crowd of people. Zim looked behind him, hoping it wasn't too late to go back, but to his horror, saw that they were getting further and further away from the door, and more people were getting in the way; so much that he could hardly even see the door anymore. He turned back around to look forward and saw that there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of people on the first floor, and looking up, saw even more on the second floor...

He gulped slightly at this sight. He hated it enough at Skool, but this... this was like a horror movie. Any minute now something would go wrong, he could feel it. But then again, that was probably just his worried mind overreacting. He held onto Dib's hand tighter and edged closer to him slightly. If he lost the human in this crowd, he'd probably not be able to find him again.

Everywhere he looked, he could see at least 20 humans in the same area, and even more in the shops themselves. But he could also see so many interesting things too. So many new human objects. Zim had only been in the mall during closing hours, so most of the shops were shut or had those weird metal walls over the doors, so he hadn't seen what was inside. "Why do you humans have to all be in one place at the same time?" He complained.

Sensing Zim's mood, Dib began to sweat a bit. His hands got clammy when it was squeezed by the other. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea going here... But knew no other places to buy stuff. He couldn't remember being in a shop outside this building, bet food or garment. And probably it would be an opportunity to familiarize Zim with such places as well. Dib don't wanted Zim to be locking himself down in his lab/house all the time. Hell, they were solitary enough...well, at least before they were friends... Not that he wanted to have another one anytime soon, but getting along with your environment wasn't a bad idea Dib thought.

With that in mind, he led Zim to the next information point, widely noticeable by a big, red "!" sign above the crowd. Approaching the woman behind the counter, he took a quick glance to Zim. The Irken was looking around the area with a sparkling curiosity in his eyes, despite the obvious un-comfortableness of him by giving Dib's hand a very tight squeeze from time to time.

"Don't worry. We're staying together here, so nothing bad will happen... just hold on." A reassuring squeeze followed his words, knowing the hand-holding was the only thing for Zim which prevented him from getting a panic attack and running out of the mall, screaming weird stuff. Heh. It would be kinda funny to see that... No. It would be mean!

"Ummm...excuse me, ma'am. We are searching for a clothing store. Preferably with a big selective and quality stuff." He kindly asked the woman. Dib didn't want to be spare with the money. He got enough of it, being the son of Prof. Membrane and all.

Seeming very bored, she didn't even looked up from her glossy magazine she lifted one arm while saying: "See the escalator there? Take that one to the second floor. On the right side there's a shop called 'H&M'. It's the fifth shop on this side. Have a nice day."

Hearing those reassuring words and feeling the human squeeze his hand, Zim relaxed slightly, but still kept his guard up. When the woman pointed to the side, Zim followed her finger and saw a flight of stairs, but they were moving.

He'd seen them before, but never been on them. It was quite interesting seeing that kind of simple technology being used quite cleverly, but he didn't see the point of them. Why must people have moving stairs when you can just walk up them to begin with...? When they started walking towards the 'escalator', Zim was still looking round at all the different shops. There were so many...

Music shops, games shops, food shops, shoe shops, repair shops, and much more. It amazed the Irken to see so much stuff in one place... but also so many people. This must be the main source of human shopping. He hadn't seen many other shops, well, except fast food places. But those places were just horrible.

Suddenly, he heard a laughing type of noise. So, he turned around, and sure enough, there was a group of teenagers laughing and pointing... at them! He checked his wig and contacts with his free hand; they were fine. What were they laughing at? "Dib-friend, what are those humans laughing at...?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the group of kids.

Already in the store, mentally, rummaging through the different types of clothing, Dib was caught off-guard when he heard Zim speak. When he looked over there, where these kids stood, he went rigid.

He didn't know why but Dib got the feeling they were from the Skool, seeing their slightly familiar faces...Yeah. They were members of a Torques clique of dumb bullies! But Dib didn't locate Torque among the 4 teenagers. Still, it wasn't a good idea to mess with them...yet. Right in this moment he suddenly became aware why they pointed at Zim and him, laughing their asses off.

The hand-holding. Of course! They were now thinking he was gay or something, walking around hand in hand with the weird green boy. They usually yell at each other in most of the Skool day and now this... no wonder they would think that.

Surprisingly, Dib himself never thought of it THAT way. He blushed again from ear to ear. Maybe it was indeed too weird... His grip on Zim's hand loosened for a few seconds and he nearly let go of him, but then he gripped the green hand even tighter and marched straight to the escalator.

No. They were the weird, stupid ones, not Dib! Zim was his friend now, nothing wrong with that! "I will explain it to you later, Zim. Let's just get away from them," he said with a determined tone. They reached the stairs and slowly moved to their destination. Dib hoped those jerks would not follow them, so he and Zim could smoothly buy some clothes and spend a nice noon together...

When he felt the human's hand begin to loosen its grip on his own hand, Zim started to panic slightly. If Dib wanted to stop the hand-holding, that was fine, but if they got separated by the crowd, he didn't know what he'd do. If there wasn't so many people then he would have used his Pak, but for obvious reasons, he couldn't. But, then he felt the grip tighten again, which he was relieved for.

Yet, those laughs weren't exactly nice to hear... they sounded almost cruel, and made him feel slightly anxious again. Had he done something wrong, or something humans don't usually do? Oh well, he'd get an answer later from the human. Yet Dib's determined tone sounded like those laughs definitely weren't for a good reason...

But he just shrugged it off for the time being. When they were on the escalator, he couldn't help but feel slightly excited by the experience. They were actually quite fun. He watched the first floor, along with those laughing faces getting further and further away. Heh, kind of felt like he was growing, or was in a see through elevator. Maybe some human inventions weren't so bad. He looked back at the human's face and saw he had yet another blush, and a slightly annoyed expression.

Zim made some pretty cute, kinda squeaky noises while they 'rode' on the escalator. It was obviously a new thing for the alien. Dib's expression quickly turned into an amused, grinning one.

It was adorable how Zim was looking around with wide eyes, soaking every little detail in this palace of...stuff. Dib watched him until they reached the end of the stairs...unnoticed. He stumbled and quickly caught himself with the free hand, stood up and turned back to Zim, who showed a funny smile, enjoying the boy's embarrassed slip."Heh. D-Don't say anything!" He pouted at Zim, very embarrassed by his clumsiness.

"Ahem, well... let's go there," he pointed to the right row of shops and walked ahead, dragging Zim behind. 'I really need to stop day-dreaming all the time! Especially around him...' he thought and tried to concentrate on his task: accoutre Zim.

It was a struggle to keep in his laughter when he saw Dib trip, but he managed to do it... just about. A lot of holding your breath was required to not laugh at such a thing. It wouldn't have been so funny if he had fallen over completely, but since he didn't, it was only the boy's ego that got hurt, this time.

It had happened since it seemed like the human had been day-dreaming again... It was starting to cause quite a few problems. But, he was sure the boy couldn't help it. But before he could respond, he was being dragged behind the human, but saw the human's face just in time to see another on-task kind of expression of his face.

Zim's own expression turned into a slight smile at how concentrated Dib seemed to be. But then again, he'd always been like that. Once Dib had a task, there was no stopping him. "You know, you don't have to be so serious," he pointed out, as he saw another set of shops come into view.

Slowing down his walk, Dib took Zim beside him again and looked him into the contact-covered eyes, stopping in his track. "I'm just trying to make this right for us, Zim. After all, we want to find the right clothes for you... so I need to be more focused. I'm sure, we will find something we both like...-"

Again, a goofy absent smile appeared on Dib's face. He imagined Zim in a slim magenta T-Shirt with a V-neck, showing that smooth green neck and flattering the Irkens waist, while he smiled smugly... When he realized what he was thinking (apart from day-dreaming AGAIN), the mental image quickly vanished. 'Oh boy, what is wrong with me!?' Dib inwardly whined.

He felt his face heat up like an oven, so he nervously rubbed his neck and smiled at Zim apologetically.

And there again was that blank look in the other boy's eyes. Zim was really starting to hate this 'day-dreaming' stuff.

He put his free hand on his hip and started tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for Dib to come back from whatever fantasy world he'd flown off to. He looked around seeing if that group of kids from the first floor had followed them, and he was pleased to see that they hadn't. What had they been laughing about anyway? Was it because they were so used to seeing himself and the human argue that it was funny to see them walking together? Or, maybe they weren't laughing at them in the first place... 'Humans are just plain confusing,' he mentally decided, sighing slightly.

When he looked back at Dib, he seemed to be back to normal, since now he was blushing again, and looking kind of guilty of something... What of though, that was the question. Zim just shook his head and started dragging the human in the direction that they were heading to begin with. "It's not so nice to be the one being dragged, now is it human?" He teased, looking back to see the human's expression.


	23. Chapter 23

Dib was frowning. He was kinda angry with himself, seeing how annoyed Zim seemed by his dreaminess recently. And it scared the boy too, because it was new for him. That day dreaming stuff happened only in the last two days, when he was around Zim and not in a hostile manner. As friends... Mostly it was by 'accident', when his brain made pictures itself. He wasn't really thinking when they came.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, not sure if Zim even heard it. Zim's presence was making him so... deranged sometimes. And there was no prospect of an end, regarding their planned activities in the next few days.

Dib looked down and sighed deeply, while Zim was dragging him like vice versa before. His head felt so heavy. When he lifted it again, he already saw the two big letters 'H&M' above a glass door. "Zim! We're there. Stop dragging me."

Looking behind him towards the human, Zim saw that Dib didn't look too happy at the moment, and this sight caused Zim's smug smile to lessen slightly. Maybe the boy just wasn't in the mood for jokes. He turned his gaze forward and saw a wave of people moving in all directions...

How could anyone know where to go when you can hardly see anything? Maybe humans had a navigational device for such places; though he doubted it very much. The noise level was unbelievably loud. But even so, Zim could still hear the boy's apology and sigh.

"It's okay human. Like you said, your brain disobeys you sometimes, right?" He called back, remembering what Dib had said earlier. Zim carried on dragging the human until he heard him shout; to which, he stopped.

He looked back to Dib before seeing that he was looking up at sign; so, following his gaze, he two saw the name of the shop: 'H&M'... Human's had the weirdest ideas on names for shops. Looking down through the glass door, he saw row upon row of clothing for all different audiences. He'd never seen so many clothes all in one place... His eyes widened as he scanned the shop from left to right.

"Right." They entered the shop- side by side this time and ... still hand-holding. The green and almost-white fingers seemed too melted together, needing each other. Dib looked down at them for a brief moment, smiled and looked around.

He visited this shop with Gaz a few times, but that was a while ago. So at least he knew where clothes for men were... But when he mustered Zim out of the corner of his eyes, he doubted that stuff would fit him.

He guessed Zim would rather need children's sizes. After all, he barely reached his shoulder and was skinny, almost, more than Dib himself. But all this made his Irken-Friend all the more adorable... "Gah!" He gasped and quickly shook his head to get rid of these thoughts, moving to THAT direction again!

Instead, he smiled reassuringly at the other. "S-So, Zim. Should we go around a bit, so you can see what we humans are wearing, or should we go straight to the section where the stuff is you could try out? Ya' know, that would be the… umm...children's section. Heh." Too cute.

It was a lot quieter and less busy in the shop than it was in the main corridors, which was good news. The place smelt of newly made fabric and plastic, and there was a quite dull, low music playing in the background from a few speakers placed around where the walls met the ceiling.

It wasn't too bad in here. Zim carried on looking around until he heard Dib make a shocked type of sound. He quickly turned his head around to look at the other, but only to see that he was smiling at him.

Zim thought about the question for a few moments before shrugging. "I don't mind, whatever's easiest I guess," he said. He didn't really mind, since the place wasn't as horrible as he thought it'd be, but, he didn't want to spend unnecessary time in here either.

He resumed his inspecting of the shop before tensing when he acknowledged what the boy had added to the end of his question.

Snapping his head back to face the human, he glared slightly before speaking. "What do you mean 'children's section'? Zim is no child!" He snapped, pouting slightly as if the comment was an insult.

Silently watching Zim's curious inspection of this place, Dib wasn't really surprised by Zim's reaction. "Oh Zim. That's not an insult or something. I just mean... well, you're already considered as a child, since you attend the Skool since you first came here. Besides, in human measures your...umm...bodily scale is that of a child here on Earth." He wisely prevented him from using words like 'small' or 'little'.

"Come on. That's not a bad thing. They surely got cool stuff there. In many different colours. You'll like it." Without further wait, he dragged Zim to the escalator up to the third level, where the children's stuff was located.

"Just give it a try, Zim. Do it for me, okay?" Dib insisted on the moving stairs.

Listening to Dib's explanation, Zim's glare soon turned into a roll of the eyes. He couldn't help but find it like an excuse for trying not to be insulting, but oh well. Whilst he was being dragged, Zim could see many different human clothing.

There were so many colours and styles. Red, white, black, blue, orange, yellow. Warm, weird, cool, formal, casual... Once they were on the escalator, that's when Zim saw that there were more levels of the shop... This place was big. He turned his head back to face the human when he heard him continue speaking.

Zim sighed and rolled his eyes again. "Fine..." He mumbled, before looking over the railing on the stairs to see the floor get further and further away with every second.

"Great!" Dib squealed. Dib was just giddy to see Zim in a cool new outfit. Weird. Suddenly his urge was unstoppable and soon they reached the certain section. "So, here we are. What you wanna look for first? Shoes, shirts, pants and...Oh, look at that!" He dragged poor Zim into the mass of clothing.

Dib rummaged through a small pile of caps. His back turned to Zim, he mumbled barely intelligible stuff. "Hmm. No...That's ugly...maybe that...or… wrong colour. Oh! That's perfect! Heheh..." He turned back to face Zim and held something up in the air for him to see.

It was a bright red baseball cap and the special thing about was...two fluffy black stalks were patched on each side of the cap. They even had a bent end, just like Zim's ones; soft and flexible.

Before the Irken was able to say something, Dib placed it on the other's head with a swift motion and a beaming smile written all over his face. It was too adorable to resist. This section was definitely the right one! The black things bounced in different directions.

"Yay. What do you think, Zimmy?" He used that nickname again, but unintentionally, while shoving Zim to the next mirror.

Zim let out a small yelp of shock when Dib practically dragged him towards a pile of, what seemed to be, hats. Their hands separated when the human started to dig through the mess. Zim was disappointed slightly, but since the store was practically close to deserted, it wasn't so bad.

He watched Dib check literally every hat he could find, before turning around to look at the rest of this floor. There were one or two little kids with their parents, begging them to buy something or other. Earth toddlers were extremely annoying. Always crying and slobbering over everything. Whoever would want a kid was obviously insane...

He turned back around when he heard the human chuckle slightly. Dib's arms were raised slightly, and when Zim looked to his hands, he saw that he was holding a hat... It was red with... antennae? Why would a human company make a hat like that? Suddenly, he felt a slight weight difference on his head, and saw the other boy's hands were empty...

He hadn't... But he saw soon enough when he got pushed right to a nearby mirror... He had.

Zim nearly facepalmed when he saw his own reflection... It was kind of ironic, an alien with his own pair of antenna, wearing a hat with antennae...

He slowly turned his head back to face the human, blush forming on his face from the nickname and from wearing the hat. "Is this meant to be a joke human?" He said, looking back into the mirror and flicking a fluffy stalk with his finger.

While Zim was shocking over the hat, Dib babbled on: "I didn't know something like that exists. But it's a funny idea. I definitely would buy that thing, but...heh...now I got an alien with real antennas by my side, that's even better!"

Seeing that dark green blush on Zim's face was too nice. "Isn't it hilarious?" He laughed and mustered the reflection. Looking at Zim's still sceptical face, Dib hoped he did nothing wrong "Of course, you don't have to wear it. But it's such a funny eye-catcher, I couldn't help myself." He flicked a false antenna too. It got a kinda thick fur all over its surface, nothing compared to Zim's real feelers.

Suddenly, he was tempted to touch them again, feel the silky texture and... No. Wrong thoughts. "S-So if you don't like it...umm... we could look for other... stuff."

"Hilarious is one way to put it." Zim carried on inspecting the hat in the reflection, but also watching Dib laughing. After a while, Zim even cracked a slight smile. It did look quite funny. He guessed he just didn't see it that way, since it was also kind of embarrassing.

He reached up and took it off his head to look at it better. There was a label inside with weird little symbols and pictures; which included the company's name. He then flipped it over so he could look at the stalks on top. "It looks like someone just cut off an Irken's pair of antennae and stuck them on..." He mumbled, poking one of them slightly.

It was kind of a creepy thought. But, Dib seemed to like the hat quite a bit, and it wasn't that hideous once you got used to it. "It's okay I guess," Zim admitted, smiling slightly.

"Really? Okay then. And ya' know what? To make it even funnier, I could buy one for me too! Since I got that weird scythe-lock on my head, it surely suits me." With that, he got to the pile of caps and dug sometime through it, until he found what he wanted. Returning to the mirror, he wore the same hat like Zim's, but a naval blue one!

"Aren't we a nice pair, huh?" He beamed and put the red hat on atop of Zim and an arm around Zim's shoulder to empathize the image.

Zim watched Dib rummage around in the pile of hats again; fiddling with the label inside the hat he was holding himself. When the human turned back around, he saw that he was wearing the same hat, but blue.

He guessed that he'd do that. Zim held his breath to stop himself from laughing again. Yep... These hats were pretty funny. And when they were both in the reflection, both wearing the hats, he couldn't help himself any longer, and burst out laughing.

It's one thing when you yourself look ridiculous, but when someone else does too, its way more funny.

It was a joy to see Zim so happy again, and his laugher was quite infectious. So he laughed along with Zim. They were the only customers there in that moment, so it would not disturb anyone.

When did he laugh so hard the last time? Honestly, he couldn't remember. It felt so good, especially when Zim was laughing with him, instead of laughing at each other, like in the past.


	24. Chapter 24

And they only laughed about something simple like a funny looking hat. Dib always heard Zim's evil and kinda hostile laugher and chuckles over the years. But now, he needed to get used to hear that joyful one instead, and that fact made him even happier. After a full minute or so he calmed down a bit and looked at Zim, still chuckling.

Zim stopped laughing after a while, so he just stood there watching the reflection of Dib laughing slightly. The sight made him smile, not only physically, but mentally too. He didn't notice that the boy was looking at him also, since he was becoming lost in his own mind, like the human had earlier, but with different thoughts.

He was thinking about the empire. How he could see the truth about what had happened in the past. With these thoughts, his smile soon faded and was replaced with a blank stare; not knowing he was still staring at the human's reflection. A lot of old faces were becoming nothing more than shadows, more appeared, and soon were surrounding him. All staring and repeating one word.

Defect.

Zim grabbed his head in this imaginary world, trying to push his wig on tighter, as to block the voices reaching his antennae. Suddenly he felt a weight fall off his head, and the voices soon stopped. He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a red object flash past his eyes. His hat had fallen off.

He picked it up quickly and turned to face Dib, who had been looking at him. Zim decided to just push aside those thoughts, and just enjoy spending time with his friend. He smiled nervously up at the boy. "So, uh, what now?" He asked, looking around, rotating the hat around in his hands.

Dib was a bit worried now. It was strange how Zim was staring hollowly at the mirror and then gripped at his head like he was in pain! But when he saw that smile on the others green face, he shrugged it off...for now. Dib decided it was time to speak about this -this whole 'being-banished-thing'- after the shopping trip. When they were alone in the base again, Dib's temporary home...

It was not easy to keep the light, good mood up, when you're concerned about your Irken-Friend. But Dib tried to do so.

"Umm... I guess the next thing would be a shirt or something like that or a light jacket. Ya' know, its summer and all...so you won't want too thick clothes. They need to be light, breezy." He pointed to the far end of this section, where the changing booths were. "It's over there."

Reaching the various amount of shirts in the boy's section, hanging on regular racks and nicely flooded on plain white tables at knee-height. Like the hats, you saw shirts in every kind of colours, with and without overprints (some rather complex and detailed, some with you a few stupid slogans and jokes on it) or in various fashions: 'Slim fit', elastic and waist-enhancing or V-necks (Dibs favourite look on Zim...)

The Irken was already by his side, glancing curiously here and there. "So, maybe it's the best, you'll have a first look, because it's such a big variety of designs and colours here. A-And when you found something you like, you can put it on in there," he said, pointing to the cabinets in the corner.

Looking around at all the different clothes, Zim nearly completely forgot about the thoughts that had just attacked him. Instead, he looked around in every direction. There were so many... He was used to just seeing a few outfits, which were uniforms, but he didn't mind them so much before, since he knew no better.

But looking around, and comparing different clothing with each other, the invader uniform looked quite boring now... He walked slowly up to one railing with one style of shirts, but in different colours. They were all pastel colours, and the shirt seemed to be a formal wear... No.

Zim quickly moved on to a different railing, and another, and another. None of them seemed to be... right. They were either: too formal, too stupid, or just plain weird. But after a few minutes of searching, he came across something that looked half decent.

He took it off the railing to inspect it properly. It was a plain, dark red, long sleeved t-shirt. Nothing on the front, or back. Others may call it boring, but he liked it. "What about this?" He held it up and faced Dib, waiting for a response.

Whilst waiting, he looked towards the little rooms in the corner which the human had pointed to earlier. Yeah... 'Sure looks like no-one has been murdered there'... He thought, shaking his head slightly before looking back towards the other boy.

It would be a lie to say Dib didn't have a slight clue Zim would choose a red shirt. So when he saw it, he smiled warmly down at Zim (in moments like this he got really aware, how small Zim was compared to himself... and he would still grow a bit).

"I must say...this is totally your colour, Zim. Heh. Yeah, it will suit you just fine. I like it." He grabbed some of the shirt and then the hem of Zim's uniform. Comparing both pieces, he rubbed the cloth with three fingers, just like he had done with Zim's antenna...

Dib blushed again at that thought, but concentrated to not to dream again. The red shirt was obviously cotton-100%. Nothing wrong with that. Zim's uniform on the other side felt kinda elastic, like a synthetic stretch material for sportswear. It was very fine made, maybe microfibre. Dib bet that Zim didn't wear any other outfit for a looong time, and surely he wouldn't even know what cotton is. Heh. But the main thing was it'll be comfy and not too tight. And after all, it was more the time spending with Zim which was making Dib so happy; When Zim liked the new clothes, even better!

"Try it out, Zim. There are many different sizes. Let me check." He grabbed the shirt from Zim and looked at the size label. L... obviously too big for someone like Zim. Dib got to the rack where the other sizes of that certain shirt hang and snatched an M and S size. After a few more looks… he even found a XS one! So he grabbed this too while getting rid of the L-thing.

Sighing out contently, he got back to Zim and handed him the three shirts. "Here, I selected some sizes for you. One of them will hopefully fit you." When he saw Zim's sceptical face, he quickly added: "O-Of course, this has nothing to do with you being small or so, Zim. It's just...ummm... you got a 'special' physique and maybe some n-not so large sizes would suit you the most." 'Zim is such a delicate being...so cute and exotic!' He just couldn't help it! Dib was blabbering too much. "I-I'll wait for you outside. And take your time to take a good look in the mirror, which one of the three you like the most."

Nodding, Zim took the three shirts, and made his way to the changing rooms. He opened the door and made his way in. Looking around, it was basically just a basic room with a place to hang stuff, and a bench... He shut the door and put the lock across. The Irken looked at the labels for a moment, and guessed that the letters meant size. Since they were all different sizes. He shrugged and decided he'd try the larger one first. Taking off his shirt, he remembered about his Pak... How the heck was that meant to fit in a human shirt?

Invader shirts had special holes in the back of all uniforms so the Pak wouldn't be a problem... He sighed and decided he'd just have to take it off for a few moments. Once his shirt was off, he went into his Pak's main programming, mentally, and unattached it. It made a whirring noise for a moment, and then popped off.

Zim took it from its hovering location, and put it down on the bench. Now he'd have to hurry. He grabbed the shirt with 'M' on its hanger, and quickly put it over his head. Once it was on, he walked over to the mirror which was on the side of the wall and looked at his reflection. It was slightly big on him. Zim sighed. What he wouldn't give to grow a ft. or so... No time to waste though. So he quickly took off that shirt and chose the one which said 'S'.

He glared at the label... But put on the shirt none-the-less. This one fit quite well, a little big in the sleeve length, since it covered up his hands, but everything else was fine. He'd just have to roll up the sleeves. Looking at his reflection, he felt weird... He hadn't worn anything but his uniform before... But this shirt was way more comfortable.

1 minute down. 9 minutes left. Plenty of time.

He wasn't sure if the human wanted to see him in the shirt or not... He just shrugged, picked up his Pak and old shirt and went outside. He saw the human and walked up to him. "I have to be quick human; I need to put my Pak back on within..."- He checked his internal clock- "8.5 minutes. And it doesn't help that your planet's shirts are stupidly impractical," He stated quickly, really wanting his Pak back on as soon as possible.

Deep in thoughts, Dib noticed the clicking sound of an unlocking door and quickly looked up. Zim in a red human shirt. The first thing getting his attention was that green neck. With just a shirt on, Zim showed way more of his neck than with his old usual uniform.

The slightly brighter green skin there was such a nice contrast to the dark red of the shirt, it was even a bit darker than the Irken's uniform. Zim looked kinda... handsome and nonchalant with just a plain T-Shirt. So, as expected, Dib blushed a slight pink again.

It was funny how the sleeves 'absorbed' Zim's hands. Hitch up, no problem. When Zim had spoken, he needed a few seconds to comprehend it. 8 minutes? Oh, right...he remembered... Then he slapped his forehead.

"Of course! How could I forget it!? Your PAK-thingy is in the way. But I guess it's no problem. We'll just carefully cut a hole into the shirt when we're back ho-" He almost said 'home'. But the base already felt way better than his current one... "I-I mean when we're back at the base. So, it seems that 'S 'fits you best. Get your PAK back on and we get to the next thing." It was still a weird though for the boy, thinking that this little metal thing on the other's back was such an important life source...


	25. Chapter 25

Zim wondered why Dib was blushing yet again, but it didn't stay on his mind for too long; since, it was only a slight blush, and he needed his Pak back on. So, he just turned back around, back to the changing rooms. He went into the same room he had last time, and locked the door again.

He gently put down his Pak and old shirt onto the bench again, and took of the new human shirt. The Irken inspected the shirt again. The fabric was a lot softer than his normal uniform, and felt nicer to wear. It was a lot more flexible too. There was a label inside, like the hat had. With washing instruction and the maker of the clothing.

He felt like he'd soon get used to the t-shirt, even though it felt kind of weird. He'd get used to the texture too he guessed. His Pak made a slight bleeping noise. 5 minutes. "Oh Irk!" He quickly grabbed his old uniform, threw it over his head, and put it on. Next, he grabbed his Pak, and pressed one of the pink panels. It hovered for a moment, before relocating itself behind the Irken, then reconnecting itself to Zim's back.

Zim let out a sigh of relief, now that his beloved machinery was back in place. He straightened out his uniform and readjusted his wig, which had moved slightly from the rush. Then, he picked up the t-shirt, and made his way out of the room, back to the human.

Dib now was curious about how Zim's back looked like without the PAK attached. There must be some kind of hole in it! He never thought how it would feel to have a small machinery box constantly plastered on your back. But Zim didn't know it otherwise. He mentioned before, it was given to every new born Irken. Oh well... time to ask such stuff at the base, like he decided to do.

All the while, he didn't realize that he was still wearing the naval blue antenna-hat while holding Zim's red one in the left hand. Dib was afraid Zim would rant about all the 'stoopid' human clothing garments and totally deny wearing any of it. But that was more the old Zim. Before he got... banished.

Maybe Zim was already going to accept his fate and realize that he should get along with the life here on Earth. So when he saw Zim approaching his side, he was relieved that it went all so smoothly and without too much awkwardness. For now... "Just give it to me and then we can get to the next clothing. That would be...ummm...pants. Yeah, L-let's see how some blue jeans will look on you..."

'He would look very handsome with this shirt and... a fitting jeans and... yeah, even with that funny hat'. Dib smiled at bit and looked for the pants section.

Like he was asked, Zim gave Dib the t-shirt. "What are jeans?" He asked, tilting his face slightly to an angle. He guessed they were some type on pants. He'd heard some humans talk about them, but never actually recognized them. He'd probably seen them before but just not known what they were. He followed the human when he started walking in a direction, and looked at the different areas of the shop.

There were so many. They'd just been in the shirt section, but now he could see shoes, hats, underwear... Zim quickly looked away, blushing slightly... There are some things in life you do NOT want to see. And that was one of them... So, he quickened his walking pace, and changed from being to the left of Dib, to the right side.

Passing by colourful bermudas, dungarees, different kind of shorts and even rubber pants, the boy quickly found a round rack with normal blue, black and grey jeans on it. He also noticed Zim, following close by his side and hastily looking around. Was he uncomfortable? Well, better hurry then.

"Here we are. These are 'jeans' Listen, i-if you're kinda uncomfortable in here we could always go, Zim. But pants are the last thing on my list anyway, since I think you should keep your boots. I like them, s-so you could wear them along with the new stuff. Only if you want, of course. Soooo...let's see..." He mumbled and looked at every trouser on the rack. He put out several ones and pressed them to Zim's hips to check the length and wide, trying to find the ideal one.

After a minute or so (while Zim was curiously mustering the pants and Dib), he got three jeans draped over his arm: a black, blue and grey one. They got a bit of that 'stonewashed' look on it. Dib was sure it would look very nice on Zim's amazing legs. Yeah... Blushing again, he stuttered: "H-Here. Take these, Zim And... and put them on. I'm sure it's the right size for you, s-so you just have to find the colour you like the most. And fits t-to the red shirt." He handed them to Zim and played nervously with the red hat.

Zim wanted to keep his boots anyway; since they were actually the most comfortable boots he'd ever worn, you go through quite a few when they're constantly getting ripped from battles and fights. And he also didn't want to get rid of everything he'd gotten from the empire... Just, things that were 'their rules'. The Irken scowled slightly and that thought. Their rules... Their judgements. What did they know? He had been a faithful and hardworking member of the empire, and they had got rid of him... They were wrong. He clenched his fists slightly out of anger.

But his thoughts were interrupted when he felt something push against his front. He looked down and saw that the human was pushing some kind of trousers against him. They weren't like the kind of things he was currently wearing. Elastic type. They were less stretchy, and they held their shape more. They had a kind of, washed-out look. Like they had been in the sun too long and lost some of their colour. But he just guessed it was part of the design.

They had little loops around the edges, which kept in place a leathery looking rope. It had a metal loop at the front, and the other side had a mini metal stick. He took the jeans that Dib was holding out and poked the leather thing. It looked like a dead, flattened out snake. "What's that?" He asked, looking back towards the human.

Hmm. The shirt along with the weird hat (Dib got that picture in his head: 'Why do you stare at Zim, Dib-Friend? Like what you see, human?...' Zim smugly asked). Lucky that the boy soon was thrown out of his fantasy by Zim's question. "W-What?" He looked down at Zim, who was fiddling curiously with the belt. Cute.

"Oh, that. Heh. T-That's a belt, Zim. It usually holds the pants in place so it won't fall off while you're wearing it. But it's not really necessary to wear that thing. Look-" He lifted up his shirt to show his non-existent belt. "- I never wore any belt, since I don't really need it. I guess most pants are held place without a belt, it's more of a fancy accessory I guess. A Nice-to-have-thingy."

"Belt..." Zim mumbled, trying out the new word, before looking back at the 'belt'. Humans had weird ideas of what is needed in life. "You humans don't have enough time to work on space crafts, or powerful weapons... but you have time for making un-needed things like this?" He questioned, smiling slightly. It was kind of funny. And in his opinion, this planet needed weapons a lot more than they needed belts. Zim just shrugged it off for the time being, and made his way towards the changing rooms again.

Once in a room, and door locked, he switched from his normal trousers, to the black jeans. They felt kind of stiff, since they hadn't been worn before, but that'd probably change after time. He walked towards the mirror and looked at his reflection. Now… that looked weird... It looked weird wearing an Irken uniform and Earth jeans together.

He also noticed, now that they were on, that the ends of the belt seemed to go together... So, he moved so he was sitting down on the bench and tried to figure out how they were meant to go together. After a few tries, he started to get quite annoyed. He tried knotting it a few times, but that didn't seem to work. Then he tried putting the one end through the loop on the other end, but it kept slipping out. "How do humans do this...?" He mumbled, growling slightly.

After a few last attempts, he sighed in defeat... Maybe some human inventions weren't as dumb as he thought... He debated with himself for a few moments whether he should just give up and stick with his old trousers, or ask Dib how to do it. Then he came to a conclusion. He made his way over the wall near the door, before yelling: "Dib-human! How are you meant to do the belt-thingy?" He blushed slightly at needing the help of a human, but it had to be done. He had no idea how to use Earth things very well…

All the while Dib was sitting on a nearby chair, thinking about how to spend the rest of the day. He should show Zim more human activities, which were performed outside. Quite a lot. But he wouldn't mind to cuddle with Zim the spare day. Or watching TV or something on a comfy couch or bed.

He sighed contently and after a few seconds or so he heard Zim's screeching voice, yelling for help. "Hmm..Zim?" Like he was waking up, Dib quickly looked around before realizing Zim was indeed in the cabinet. So he slowly approached it. "I-Is something wrong with the belt. It is broken? Maybe I can bring you another one."

Hearing Dib outside the room, Zim sighed slightly. Well this was embarrassing... He'd just said how stupid humans are, and yet here he was, struggling to even use a belt. "No, the belts fine. I just... don't know how to use it..." He mumbled the last part, hoping the human had heard it, because he sure did not want to repeat it.

He could fly a voot cruiser no problem. He could fix a main computer. He could even create dooms day devices. But he couldn't work an Earth belt... And it was only a piece of clothing... He crossed his arms and looked at the floor. "Zim needs help..." He mumbled through clenched teeth; blushing even more now. He felt so stupid right now, it was unbelievable.


	26. Chapter 26

Oh. That makes sense. Obviously, Zim never saw a belt before. It was clear for Dib how awkward it must be for Zim to ask for help, alone from the way he was saying it. Really forced. "O-Okay. That's no problem. Ya' know, it's no big deal, when you didn't use a belt before. You really don't have to be embarrassed."

Still, Dib was thinking it was kinda cute that the great Zim didn't know how to handle a belt. But saying THAT out aloud would a very stupid idea. "S-So, you want me to come in?" Probably he would have to. And slowly a blush was forming on the pale human skin.

Zim thought about the question for around a minute or two. He had just expected Dib to explain how to use the belt, but that probably wouldn't work. So, it'd probably be best if the human did just come in and showed him how to do it. Zim had another go at trying to work the belt, before sighing.

He was starting to hate Earth jeans. He really was. Without answering, the Irken just unlocked and opened the door and waited for the human to come in, whilst having one last try at the accursed belt.

A click and the small door opened, revealing a heavily blushing and annoyed Zim, fumbling with the belt and grunting stuff under his breath. Wordless, the boy entered the cabinet and closed the door. Like expected it was really narrow there. Cramped like sardines in a can. The closeness of Zim along with the imminent task made Dib nervous.

He sat on the bench by the mirror. "S-So, let me show you how t-to do this...umm... yeah." Dib grabbed Zim's hands and put them aside before lifting the pants up a bit too. "F-First you need to hoist up the jeans more to your h-hips." He did as he told; grabbing Zim's hips and moved the pants back and forth a bit, until it sat nice on Zim's...butt and everything.

Dib's hands were trembling, and he wasn't able to hide that very well. "Then... the zipper." He buttoned up the button and then zippered the zipper. Weird. All the while Zim was standing before Zim and watched his fingers closely. Dib avoided his gaze, being busy with...down there. 'Zim got really nice curves. He looks so... handsome in these pants.' His Tomato-Face returned.

"A-And finally, the belt...look." He made the procedure slowly and three times. So, after a minute or so he was done and stood up. "T-There. Look at you, I-I think you look... v-very nice in these black jeans. It fits like a second skin, yes?" He stepped aside and got behind Zim. Albeit being so nervous, he couldn't help but smile at the reflection.

The closeness between the two of them made the Irken feel rather uncomfortable. He knew that these rooms were made for just one person, so two was defiantly a struggle. All the while that Dib was showing him, he noticed that the human seemed to be quite nervous... His hands were shaking and his face was flushed pure red. Odd... He knew that the boy got nervous in these kinds of situations, but he had only asked for help. Nothing wrong with that, right? Oh well.

For the time being, Zim carried on watching how to work the jeans and belt. Dib made it look so easy. But then again, it probably was for a human who had done it most of their life... Now he really felt like an idiot. But there was one thing he didn't understand. Why did humans need to go through all that hassle to create and to use such things, when normal trousers were easier and quicker? Humans... Zim rolled his eyes before returning to watching.

He tried to memorize how to use the belt-thingy, and it was quite simple now that he knew how. Why hadn't he guessed that in the first place? Oh well, he knew now. Once the human had finished showing him, they both turned to look in the mirror. He looked down at the jeans, then back to the reflection. They looked odd, but right at the same time. A small smile crept onto the Irken's face when he saw Dib smiling also. "Yeah, they're pretty cool… Well, except from the stupid belt," he admitted; half joking about the belt, but also half serious.

"Yea, pretty cool..." Dib said a bit absently and lifted his hand to... grab the wig on Zim's head and slowly removed it. Immediately, the two antennas sprung up. He didn't really know what he was doing and quickly the nervousness from before turned into a playful kind of curiosity. Suddenly, the tightness of the chamber was a good feeling, now it felt kinda...intimate.

He watched his fingers as two of them pinched the base of one of the black stalks and carefully grazed his nails along its length. The boy's other hand was wiggling for a moment and before Dib could prevent it, this hand was already on Zim's left side and rubbed it, feeling the nice curves. Dib's eyes fell half-lidded and he mumbled content noises. "Hmm... Zim. My Irken, my Special Friend..."

When Zim felt a weight leave his head, he immediately looked up at the reflection and saw that his wig was gone... His eyes widened. He quickly scanned the floor in the mirror's reflection trying to see if it had fallen off, but to his surprise, he saw that Dib had taken it. He was just about to turn around and take the wig back, but suddenly he felt the human's fingers on his antenna. It didn't help that the human was using his nails this time either.

The Irken felt a spark go down his spine, and his brain go numb. Dib had not long explained that friends didn't do this, so why was he repeating what had explained exactly not to do? But then he felt another hand, but on his side this time. Zim felt his knees start to weaken, and it was becoming quite a struggle to keep balanced.

He noticed Zim's reaction to his doings... and he really liked it. He saw that the other's legs (now wrapped up in the neat black jeans...) were trembling, so he sneaked his left hand around Zim's waist and lifted the whole Irken up for a second, before he put him down on the bench and sat very close beside him, his other hand still exploring that alluring feeler.

When he spoke, his voice was different. Much softer and confident. Rather unlike Dib. "I just can't get enough of these precious things on your head, Zimmy... So delicate and nice to feel. Heh. I bet you can say the same about my fingers up there, right?" He pinched the tip with two fingers and rubbed it afterwards. Was the boy still in his right mind...but what WAS is 'right' mind? It seemed that he was weird either way.

Feeling much like nothing more than a rag doll, Zim couldn't do much more than let out a surprised yelp when he was picked up from the ground for a moment. The tone of voice that the other used when speaking made the Irken blush slightly, but he didn't understand why. It just happened. And the blush increased when he felt the tip of his antenna being messed with AND when the nickname became involved...

He wanted to speak, to protest, but when he tried, all that came out of his mouth was random unintelligible noises. So he just gave up. Sometimes he really hated his antennae... Especially when Dib messed with them like he was now. His eyes half-lidded and he leant against the human slightly.

It was weird though, since Zim didn't want the human to touch his antennae to start with, but when Dib did, he didn't want him to stop... He looked towards the human, trying to answer his question without speaking.

Zim looked weird with just the contacts on. Something like... half Irken and half human, apart from wearing Earth jeans and his usual uniform top. Weird, but in a good way. Eventually, Dib's gaze met Zim's, both half closed.

Obviously, the Irken wanted to say something to him. Instead, there was a mix of squeaky and mewling sounds coming from those green lips. It always amazed Dib how sensitive these antennas were, regarding Zim's slumped position and the noises he made. They made Dib so...giddy again.

Fed by this and out of a strange urge, the boy pressed Zim close to his body and dropped his pink human lips to Zim's green ones, until they were just one or two inches apart, while watching his Irken closely and concentrating on his un-human breathing.

All the while, Zim was wondering how it all came to this. One minute they were shopping, the next their faces were inches apart... It kind of scared him. He knew it was basically his fault since he couldn't work a stupid Earth belt... But, how come it didn't feel... wrong? It actually felt sort of right.

But one word kept coming back into the Irken's mind; something that the human had said before. Mates. They weren't mates, so why were they even in this situation to begin with...? But, he couldn't protest or anything, since his limbs felt like jelly and he couldn't even manage one word... But then again, he also didn't want to either. Both of them, Zim and Dib, had enjoyed this sort of thing before the whole 'mates' thing came into being. Like before, back at the base.

It was then that the Irken realized what the boy was thinking of doing. He felt like his squeedly-spooch was being tied in knots. He couldn't do much, but wait, so that's what he did, blushing even more.

Neither of them seemed to notice they were still in a public place, because inside this cabinet it didn't feel all too public... which was good! Dib just felt overly hot and like it all happened in slow-motion. Indeed, it was the case. Zim's face was so dark green now. Like a frog or a full-bloomed spring-tree.

Dib simply closed his eyes, leaned forward and gave Zim's lips a swift lick. 'Yummy...' he thought and pressed his own lips now onto Zim's and kept licking them. And with every lick of his curious tongue, his two fingers gave Zim's antenna a small scratch. The other hand kept the Irken in place (half on Dib's lap now), slipped under the uniform and began slowly massaging the fine hips there.

When the Irken saw Dib close his eyes, he knew something was about to happen, and surely enough, it did. Zim's eyes widened immediately when he felt the other's tongue make its way across his own lips. And when the human pushed their lips together, Zim began to feel, not only his face, but his entire body heat up slightly. He tried to remember what the human had called it before. Kissing. Yeah, it was called kissing. They were kissing again! But, this time, he human kept... licking his lips... And when he felt the other's hand keep scratching his antenna, be could feel himself begin to purr again.

Zim shut his own eyes now, from embarrassment and from pleasure. If there was one thing the Irken did not want to be doing now, was purring... It was a public place, and the human knew what the purring meant. It meant you are happy to be with the other.

Zim was becoming slightly scared of what was going on, but nearly all thoughts vanished when he felt Dib's hand massage his sides; to which, he grabbed a fistful of the human's shirt and held onto it. He didn't know why, but he just felt like he needed to.

There was this...taste again. The taste of Zim. And like a kid (or Zim) likes candy, Dib couldn't get enough of that flavour, now that he was able to get it. It was a mildly sweet with a metallic hint in it. Not like blood but more subtle, more...mysterious. Hard to describe. But it was addicting.

And when he heard that purring again, vibrating along Zim's lips... It was driving him crazy. He didn't know there it suddenly came from. Such desire or curiosity. Why did he started it in the first place with taking that wig off? It didn't mattered for him in this moment. Dib just wanted to be with Zim. And feel that precious green skin...

He parted their lips and took some shaky breaths, staring half-lidden at Zim. "Z-Zim, you taste nice." Was all he said and licked his lips.

It was scaring the Irken how he was actually... enjoying what was going on. If this was a few days ago, this moment wouldn't have even been thought of, or at least thought of and vomiting followed soon after. But here they were... And Zim hated it how his brain instantly turned to mush when this type of situation popped up. How he allowed it to happen... It was so unlike himself. And that thought frightened him even more.

He opened his eyes in time to see that the human had backed away, but only slightly; and he could still feel Dib's saliva on his own lips. It was burning slightly from the water in it, but only very slightly. He didn't like the feel, so he used his own tongue to get it off. And the gaze that the human was doing made him feel quite uneasy as well.

Dib was enjoying it too, he could tell. He tried to say something again, but as guessed, it came out as just a few mumbles. 'Curse this human,' Zim thought to himself, blushing even more at the statement Dib had just said.

When he saw Zim's alien tongue coming out of its cave, Dib smugly smiled at him. Did he tasted something too; his human lips? That idea didn't really help to get the normal shy Dib back. Quite the opposite... That tongue; he always saw it for a second or so. He wanted to feel that ridged snake again, like on his nipple back at the base... Yeah, that would be oh so very exiting.

"Heh. Why so speechless, Zim? Was it that good? For me, it was. So let's get that stuff paid and then back to the base, what do ya' think? Just keep the jeans on. I like it." Both of his hands made their way down and petted the other's thighs with the new jeans Zim was wearing.

After some time of...feeling, he grabbed Zim's old stretchy uniform pants (he was sitting on them the whole time) and held them up for a few seconds, mustering it. Putting the pants onto his lap, he was still smiling like a goof.

Once the other boy had spoken, Zim's mind soon returned to its full working order; well, after a few shakes of his own head that is. He soon snatched his wig back from the human and shoved it on his head.

Once it was back on, he turned his attention back to Dib. "Y-You said friends didn't do that! Yet you do it again. Why? And Zim couldn't talk because of your insistent poking," he whined, glaring slightly and pointing an accusing finger at the boy. He tensed slightly when he felt the other's hands on his legs.

No way was the scene that had just happened going to repeat; so, he quickly stood up and walked to the other side of the changing room and unlocked the door. He wasn't going to admit that he had sort of liked it, no way. He didn't know much about human affection, but he knew that admitting something like that was a big deal in human terms. So, he was just going to keep that fact quiet, for now at least.

Once the door was open, he turned to face Dib and waited for him to follow.

First, snapping out of his fogged mind, Zim's words were that thing, which brought him back to the reality, totally away from his weird dreams of a attractive and curious Zim. All the while, he just looked at the finger before his nose. It made 'click' in his head and the only thing remaining from the 'other' Dib was the blush on his face.

After that, he saw the open door and in this moment he just realized, they were still in the shop. In a very public place. It made him even more embarrassed. Slowly sitting up, he got to Zim's side and mumbled stuff. "I-It was just another...spell. Yeah, it feels like a spell now. A bad one. You're right. Friends...friends don't do this. S-So that means...-" A deep sigh later: "-we are not friends." Dib bowed his head, ashamed and angry at himself.

"And sorry for the poking. It... felt nice, but I guess it just annoys you. I can't pull myself up, I see that now. Sorry..." He passed by Zim and thereby passed a mirror. Now he saw he was still wearing his blue antenna-hat and holding Zim's pants in his left hand. It didn't look so funny like 10 minutes ago or so. Back when he and Zim were smiling at the mirror, wearing the hats and soon laughing their asses off. Now it looked kinda ridiculous he thought, but kept the hat on.

Frowning, he quickly turned away from his damn reflection. Why was he doing that...again!? Making-out with Zim..and grabbing him and speaking in such a... seducing voice! He couldn't trust his stupid brain anymore. Dib was sure it would happen again, when he was indeed staying at the base for the next days. But he certainly didn't intend to make Zim even more uncomfortable. Hell, now he was even scared that he will make a fatal move, when he was in this...this desperate, wanting state of mind. He gritted his teeth, blocking away that pictures again. They brought a nice, tingling feeling, but... it wasn't right! Zim was already mad at him, so better not trying to touch him again, it would brake important things. Their friendship.

Dib's amber eyes were a bit wet now, but he swiftly blinked it away and grabbed the other's red hat and the shirt from a nearby table. He suddenly just wanted to get out of here, back to breath some fresh air. Too many humans. The boy turned to Zim. "Let's go."

Zim listened and watched Dib do his little speech... And he looked rather depressed. The Irken's previous anger quickly vanished and was replaced with worry... What did he mean 'we are not friends'...? Didn't he want to be friends anymore? He continued to watch the boy, and when he turned around, he could see that his eyes were filling up with water. 'Oh Irk,' were Zim's first thoughts.

He couldn't help but feel like this was party his fault too. If he had just stopped the human in the first place, nothing would be happening right now. The last two words the human spoke sounded horribly defeated. Like all life had been drained from him. But, he followed him anyway.

Zim mentally cursed himself. If he had only known how to use a stupid Earth belt! He clenched his fists slightly. He seemed to be the one who always created the moments in the first place. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid...' he kept repeating in his head. But looking up towards Dib, he could see that his friend needed reassuring now more than ever. He walked behind him slightly, he didn't want to upset him anymore.

"I'm sorry too... I'm always the one who makes the moment awkward anyway..." He admitted, trying to see the human's face, but couldn't from where he was standing. So, Zim just sighed and sped up so he was now walking next to Dib. "And if you say it's a 'spell', then you can't help it," he tried.

He really wasn't good at this reassuring stuff.

"A-And for what it's worth, I... kind of l-liked it..." He said, carefully through so not to make it sound too weird. There were some more people around the shop than there were before. Not by many, just one or two.

There was a female teenager staring at Dib, confused and slightly amused. Zim noticed this and moved sides so he was on Dib's other side. When they passed, he growled and glared at her, which seemed to do the trick to get the miserable human to move along.

Zim smiled to himself, then moved so he was behind Dib again. He left out another sigh... He REALLY wasn't good at this emotional stuff...

Dib stared blankly ahead, his mind a mess. Despite all the surrounding sounds of shopping people and grumpy children, the tripping sound of Zim's following feet was the only thing he really sensed. That and his regretful words. Dib knew how hard it was for Zim to say such stuff, especially with all the humans around.

The small Irken was walking this way and that, on one side, behind him and then the other side. He really wanted to stay by Dib's side it seemed. But it was all HIS fault, not Zim's!

Growling slightly he stopped in his tracks. "Quit your apologizing, Zim! Please... it's surely NOT your fault. No way!" He yelled, before realizing where they were, so his voice got quieter. "You just asked for help to get that belt on and I... I used this fact to get my will. To let my brain control me, or rather, my 'other' side. My foolish side. The bad side... I-I abused your request to...oh god... to grope you. Hell, it could have even led to worse things." His anger and frustration made his face bright red again; no it least the thought of 'worse things'...

"S-So it's TOTALLY my fault. I can't PULL MYSELF TOGETHER." He got dizzy and made his way to the register on this floor. "But still... he liked it..." The confused boy mumbled under his breath. Those few words from Zim just fed some other bad thoughts again. The 'bad', the 'other' side of Dib.

Hearing the yell made Zim stop in his tracks also. He didn't expect the human to yell like that, and so sudden. Well, he couldn't blame him. He seemed to have two personalities... One his normal one, and the other... well, you know. "Okay..." Was all Zim could say, before deciding it'd be better if he just shut up completely. That way, he couldn't create any more awkward situations, or upset Dib anymore.

He sighed before slowing down his walking speed so he was behind the human, but more space between them. He looked down at the floor and watched his feet move across the floor, and seeing the human's shoes come into view every now and then. The human was wrong though, it was also his fault. You can't have a problem between two people and just one person is the issue. Both people have to have created an equal issue. But, Zim didn't feel like this was the moment to say it, since it probably wouldn't help...

He lifted his left hand and started fiddling with his right sleeve. Suddenly he wanted Dib's hand back in his own... But that'd make things A LOT worse than it was already... worse indeed. Zim sighed and looked to the side, watching the different people go by...

Reaching the line of three customers at the register, suddenly an important thing came into Dib's mind. He stopped behind the last on the row and turned to Zim. The Irken was looking at his boots with shaking hands. Right... the hand-holding. He should ... but he couldn't bring himself to reach out his own one.

"Next one please". He heard the cashier and quickly he spoke: "Zim, I-I forgot something. Wait...". he cornered Zim and searched for the price label. Nothing. So he got behind the Irken, lifted his shirt and saw a little cord hanging out from Zim's... butt.

Dib's face flared up and quickly snatched the cord and yanked off the small piece of paper. Before him again, he just stuttered, showing the label. "F-Found it." With that, he turned around again and waited to pay and get out of the mall.


	27. Chapter 27

**I just wanna thank all readers, who took the time to review this story and I answer everyone of you, babbling a bit and stuff. Emily and me are still in good spirit and eager to create more fluff, but not without some meaningful conversations. Some good and some bad ones.**

**Anyhow, keep reading and enjoy a slightly longer chapter 3**

Zim tensed slightly when he felt the other looking for the label, but didn't move or say anything. He had decided to shut up, and that's what he was going to do... How ever difficult it may be, especially for someone like Zim.

He looked up when he noticed the human go back over to the counter, and watched him wait in the short line. He saw that Dib was blushing slightly again, and frowned. 'My fault again...' Zim thought, mumbling a few curses under his breath. He looked around and saw quite a few humans waiting at the different counters, mostly mothers and teenagers. There weren't so many people in the shop, but he remembered that outside there were hundreds; and that he couldn't... no, wouldn't hold the other's hand!

He'd try and forget anything happened in the changing room, and just concentrate on spending time with his friend. He also must remember to thank Dib later too, since he was paying after all... And to pay the human back some how too. All he needed was some Earth money...

He noted all of this down mentally so he'd remember. But at this moment, Zim just needed to remember not to hold the other's hand. He could make it through a crowd without losing the human, easy; he hoped at least.

"Thank you." He grabbed the single shopping bag (with two big, red letters H&M printed on it) and got back to Zim. Automatically, he reached out his free hand. It hovered there for a moment or so, before he realized it and let the hand fall again, so it was hanging limply by the boy's side. Cold and empty.

He lead the way and turned his head to Zim, sighed and said: "Just follow me." When he looked back at the mass of people, he quietly added, blushing again: "Nearby." While he was walking, Dib constantly searched for the best way to get through the crowd.

He was surprised how hard it actually was to not hold Zim's hand. They did the hand-holding quite often by now, so it almost felt like a ritual, a natural thing. But it also seemed to be the initiator for all these awkward moments and especially... the 'inappropriate' actions coming from Dib. Frowning at the memory of the 'things' he did to Zim in the cabinet, he cursed his obviously fucked up mind for being that... unpredictable and... yeah, flagrant! Dib came to the conclusion: they weren't really friends. Friends don't do this, Zim was repeatedly reminding him of that fact, which was probably a wise advice, or in Dib's case... more of an accusing.

Oh boy, this was all so messed up between them. Many wrinkles were forming on the boy's head, while walking and thinking.

Nodding, Zim began to follow Dib, keeping his distance but as soon as they got to the door of the shop, he could see the massive crowd again... 'Oh Irk...' He mentally whined, before moving slightly closer to the human. He could do this, all he had to do was keep an eye on the boy and everything will be fine. As soon as the door opened, the roar of the crowd could be heard again, and it was a horrible noise compared to the quiet-ish shop.

Before going through the crowd was quite easy, since when they were holding hands, most people moved, but now that they were just by themselves, no connection, people didn't seem to care if they bumped into them. A lot of dodging and swerving was needed to avoid this from happening.

All the while, Zim just kept his eyes on Dib, trying not to get too close, or too far. Either way was bad, for different reasons. Then, he heard a group of laughter again, but this time, it wasn't at them. In fact, the group probably didn't even know they existed, but the reason that Zim noticed them, was because they were normal Earth friends. And they were happy... Zim stopped to watch them for a moment. There were around 5 or 6 of them, standing by a music shop. He thought how every moment that him and Dib were happy, it always turned into something bad...

When he turned back to see Dib, he saw that he was quite far away in the crowd. Zim panicked and ran to try and catch up with him. It took a few moments, and a lot of pushing others out of the way, but he got there eventually. Zim let out a sigh of relief.

Now he was determined to make this friendship work. The next few days were his chance to become better friends with Dib, and he wasn't going to let awkward and weird moments get in the way of that. He looked to where they were heading, and saw the main entrance/exit getting closer and closer. Zim smiled slightly. They were finally going to get out of this crowd. It may have only been a few minutes they'd been in it, if that, but to Zim it seemed like hours.

He didn't realize that they already reached the main entrance, until Dib heard the swooshing sound of warm air on his hair. It came from the ventilation system right above his head, which was installed directly behind the glass doors.

So they were finally out and- wait! Where was Zim? Dib quickly turned around and to his relief, saw his green companion neatly following behind his tracks, now standing there, expectantly. The boy opened his mouth to say something, but turned against it and just ran out of the mall. 'Zim looked so... disappointed. Argh, great job, Dib!' He cursed his mind, while thudding to a nearby bench.

He sat down and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth on his face. Mrs. Sun was in a good mood today. Hopefully, it would last for some time... While his face heated up, Dib was still struggling with himself. He couldn't decide, if he wanted to be alone (well, he literally RAN out of the building, away from Zim) or if he needed Zim's company now more than ever. As unique reassuring, like it happened so often before.

For now, it seemed to him, Zim was thinking about their situation too, so he would just sit here and wait a bit. Something must happen after all...

The Irken just stood there, watching the human run until he turned around a corner. He himself was still in the entrance on the mall, eyes locked on the corner, hoping that Dib would come back. He didn't. Zim understood how the boy must be feeling, but didn't understand how to help him. Should he go after him? Or wait for a moment.

The human probably just wanted some time to think... yeah, that was it. Or maybe he didn't want to be around him anymore? Well who could blame him, it was his presence that caused all the weird moments.

He decided that he'd just see where Dib had gone, but without making it obvious that he was following. He made his way towards the corner he'd seen the human go round, before looking around it. Nothing. He made his way down the short path that followed until he got to another corner, and looked around.

There he saw a bench with someone sitting on it. Dib. He had his eyes closed. Zim decided he'd just stay here and keep an eye on the boy, hopefully without being seen. Every little movement that looked like the human was going to open his eyes, he immediately moved so he was around the corner and out of sight, before looking back around.

Zim sighed at how jumpy he was; he didn't want to disturb the boy, but not leave him completely alone either. So, he waited.

After some more minutes of musing, he slowly began to wonder where Zim was. He opened his eyes and looked on the bench, then around his surroundings. Zim was nowhere to be seen. Didn't he follow him? They were right before the exit, so the Irken should be already out of the building; even he wasn't able to get lost again in front of the obvious doors to the outside world.

Still, a concerning feeling mixed with guilt was making him queasy. Why did he run away without a warning anyway!? Stupid idea. "Zim?" He mumbled, snatched the bag, stood there and suddenly ran towards the main entrance. Until he saw the small Irken, leaning against a wall, gripping the corner. He got a kinda shocked expression. Like he got caught or something. Dib was just confused and slowly walked to Zim, with an ailing face.

As soon as he saw Dib open his eyes and look around, Zim immediately hid back around the corner. "Please don't come over here..." He kept repeating silently, under his breath. But sure enough, he heard footsteps coming closer, and saw the human's shadow. And then, he rounded the corner.

Zim held his breath, trying to not look too guilty. But Dib didn't look angry, just confused. 'Don't say anything, then he won't get angry or upset,' he mentally reminded himself. Well what would he say anyway? 'Oh hi Dib-thing, I know you wanted to be alone, yet I followed you and watched you, I hope that doesn't sound too stalker like'... He thought not! That'd just be stupid! No, he'd just keep quiet. Quick though, excuse... Uh. Zim thought for a moment, but looking at the human, he already knew it was too late for an excuse.

So instead, he tried to do a 'oh hi' smile, like he hadn't seen him, but it turned out to be more of a 'just been caught in the act' type of smile.

Zim smiled, so all was okay. Right? "Umm, Zim? What were you doing there? Did... did you watch me?" A kinda creepy thought. In the past, Dib was the one watching Zim the... interesting subject. So, he couldn't really blame him. Dib just wanted an answer. So he stepped to Zim, until he stood approx. 3 or 4 ft away.

"I-I know, it was stupid from me to just suddenly run off. But it wasn't because of you, Zim! Seriously. I got panicked and... and hoped you would follow me. I guess you thought I wanted to be alone. Heh. Noooo. Just to get out of the mass of people was the reason." Dib chuckled at the image of Zim staring at Dib from the building's corner; for several minutes. Heh. It wasn't THAT creepy, when he thought about it. 'Am I so interesting to look at?' He mused and mustered himself. Certainly not.

"W-Would you mind, if we sit in the sun for a while? To talk." Looking down to his feet, he mumbled "I've been thinking..." and made his way back to the bench, the bag almost slipping out of his hand.

Once Dib had explained why he had ran off, Zim felt slightly glad that it wasn't completely his fault. He understood how the boy was feeling. Zim didn't like large crowds either, but it kind of shocked him how he wouldn't want to be around his own race... But then again, most other humans were dumb beyond belief... In this city at least.

The question threw him off guard for a moment though. What would he want to talk about...? Maybe it was about earlier... He wouldn't be surprised if it was, but it'd would be quite a awkward topic to talk about.

Wait... this would mean he'd have to talk. Okay... all he'd have to do was think about what he said before answering, even if it was something simple. Zim followed Dib to the bench and sat down next to him. The sun and open air felt quite nice after being inside a building which made you feel like you were going to get squashed to death at any moment...

The others quietness was making Dib even more nervous. But who could blame him? There they sat now. Dib squished the bag between himself and Zim, so he won't get wrong ideas. To get too close to Zim and stuff...

"Isn't this a nice place to sit?" Oh, lame intro. He began to nervously play with his fingers, resting on his lap. "Anyhow, f-first I'm really sorry what happened in the changing cabinet room, Zim. I did it before, but this time I got too far. B-But, I just noticed it when it was already too late...and when you yelled at me and asked why I was doing this AGAIN!"

He got the price label out of his pocket and fiddled with it. "All that touching and grabbing... Friends don't do this kind of stuff. You saw that from the beginning, so why not me?" The poor label ripped in two half, when suddenly, Dib remembered where it came from. The inside of Zim's pants. At the butt. His face flared up again and he frowned. He shouted: "See! I can't even stop thinking wrong stuff about... you. And instantly I'm looking like a jerk, blushing like a tomato!" Soon, he realized his small tantrum and took a deep breath.

The anger slowly vanished... Good. "S-Sorry. Again," he stuttered with a cracked voice. "All I'm trying to say is... well, we are not friends, if we keep- No! If I keep touching YOU all the time and without warning. I-I know how uncomfortable this always makes you. You're tensing and not saying anything. Probably, because you're too scared or... or d-disgusted." The last words barely left his mouth as a desperate whisper.

His eyes quickly watered up, and before he noticed this, a small stream of tears was running down his blushed cheeks. Ashamed like hell, Dib buried his face in his hands and turned away from Zim.

To begin with, Zim didn't know what to say. They weren't friends...? Images of them going back to being enemies came into the Irken's mind. He defiantly didn't want that to happen. He was staring at the ground until this moment, but quickly turned to look at Dib when he heard a chocking kind of noise. He was crying...

He felt all embarrassment and confusion leave him, and was replaced with worry and concern for the boy. He remembered what the human had done for him earlier, when he was upset.

Hugging and such...

He felt like he should give the other a hug, but... that's what was half of the issue they were tackling at the moment anyway. "Well... I don't want to go back to being enemies. But, being friends seems to be causing you stress..." He thought out loud. If only there was a way to sort this out... But maybe there was, and they just hadn't found it yet. There was one idea to reassure the human, but, he didn't want to say it, that was for sure... but, he felt like he had too.

"To be honest... I didn't really mind it. It's just... confusing." He decided on, choosing his words carefully. "And I wasn't saying anything, not because I was... disgusted, because I didn't want to upset you. Like earlier." He was trying not to go on too much, since it usually made it worse. There was one last thing Zim decided to try, since he had no other options, not that he could think of at least. So, he stood up and moved so he was standing in front of Dib, before sitting down on the floor. He did this so he could see the other's face, since he had turned away.

He reached up and took one of the human's hands, and intertwined their fingers. Zim smiled reassuringly and squeezed the other's hand. "Zim can't help but think we're meant to be friends, not enemies." He said calmly, hoping this would be enough to at least stop the other crying...

Just sitting there and listening. That was all Dib was able to do in that moment. Zim's words were calming him down so much. They were so sincere, so nice. Dib peeked between his fingers and listened, his crying lessening. Was he really worth so much to Zim, that the other needed to say such things? Probably, it meant something to Zim. Dib knew it. And he said... he liked it! Yeah, that's why he was purring, right? Maybe, it wasn't all THAT bad, what Dib did. Anyhow, it seemed that it was all Zim had to say. But after some long moments of weird silence, he noticed Zim stood up.

For a horrible second, Dib believed the other was leaving him here, having all said and done... He got rigid and was about to cry again, when... when he saw Zim's contact-covered eyes through his fingers and suddenly was feeling the Irken's hand squeezing his own. His amber eyes snapped up and widened greatly. His free hand fell to the side, so he just stared at Zim, who was smiling up at him. His crying stopped completely and soon he smiled back. What amazed him the most were Zim's words. They made the hand-holding so much more... important. And intense.

Zim was sitting before him, holding his hand and telling him, he still wanted to be Dib's friend. Hell, even though they we're meant to be friends! This whole scene touched, affected Dib like nothing before. And it came from Zim... Now he was almost crying out of joy, not sorrow. But he successfully avoided new tears. It would confuse Zim even more. Still, his eyes stayed wet.

"Zim..." He chocked out and swallowed the lump in his throat. "R-Really?" He forced out a hopeful voice and rubbed over Zim's palm. Dib was so happy to be able to touch Zim again. To hold his hand and rubbing it. To get that unique feeling of reassurance from his Irken friend. To see his smile and hear so rare, such nice words. "You really think, we can do this? Albeit it's so confusing sometimes...?"

"Really," Zim said, nodding his head slightly. He never did quite understand the human thoughts of someone saying something, and then the person who was listening wanting them to repeat it again, but he didn't complain.

Sure it may be a bit of a challenge and confusing at times, but what friendship isn't? Most friendships he'd seen, they were insulting each other, then the next they're laughing about it. Weird, but then again, humans were weird anyway. But he decided to keep that opinion to himself. All he'd have to do, is not say anything that may set the 'other side' of Dib off again. That wouldn't be so difficult, hopefully.

His ego was plummeting by the minute in these situations, and he seemed to say things that he wouldn't usually say... But that wasn't so bad, was it? Who knows. But what Zim did know, was that his friend had cheered up slightly; and his own smile increased at this.

"Great!" His own hand now cupped Zims small green one. "Thank you. Ya' know, for being with me. For making me feeling better again." He rubbed his neck a bit nervously and looked to the left and right side, more struggling with himself than actually caring if someone sees it.

After a content sigh, he leaned forward to Zim's face and... gave him a quick peck on his cheek, before looking down at him again, blushing but smiling. Yeah, rather enjoying the tingling feeling in his belly.

Zim noticed that Dib was looking to his left, then right. Zim followed his gaze, expecting someone to be there. Nothing. Zim made a confused face while looking towards the human. He was just about to ask if he had seen something, when he saw the other lean forward. His eyes widened when he felt the other's lips on his cheek, but it was only for a brief moment, which he was glad for. Or it may have started the whole moment off again.

Zim raised his hand and put it on his own cheek where the human had touched. What the human had done was kind of... cute. Oh no, no he was using that word. Oh well. He smiled and blushed slightly.

Seeing that smile quickly scattered all possible worries that it was a bad idea to do this. Quite the opposite, it made Zim happy. Obviously. He made a adorable face again while feeling his cheek.

When he looked at the smiling Zim, a rhyme from the day before plopped up in his mind. Zim's mumbling sing-song voice was heard in his head '...but you're my Dib-Friend and I'll stick with you until the end'. Dib's heart ached, but in a oh so very pleasant way. That tingling feeling intensified and he was so happy again. Like back in the base, when they cuddled, maybe even more. It seemed that wasn't such a funny rhyme. Dib began to deeply believe into these few words.

He should sing for Zim too, sometime soon... The boy put the bag away, under the bench and petted the left space beside him with his free hand. "You don't have to sit on the ground the whole time. W-Wanna sit beside me instead?"

Nodding, Zim stood back up and sat back next to Dib. Their hands were still intertwined together, and he was happy for that. He decided this would probably be the right moment to thank the human too. He thought about how to say it for a moment before speaking. "By the way, t-thank you for the clothes..." He said, ego dropping again. But he didn't mind too much, since it was only right that the boy should get a thank you.

And it wasn't only that... Zim wanted to thank him for everything in the past 2 days, but then that would probably sound really stupid, especially coming from him. So instead, he just settled on a thank you for the clothes. That wouldn't sound too weird, right? He hoped not.

Before Zim spoke, Dib's gaze was locked on their hands. 'What a strange, but fitting connection,' he thought and wasn't sure if he meant the hands or the friendship in general. Well, basically it was the same, the hand-holding just being a very nice symbolic gesture...

When he heard Zim speak again, he automatically looked at the new black jeans on him. Yeah, it suited Zim perfect. Not too tight, not too loose. "Hmm?" Looking back up at Zim, he was again a bit surprised but somehow touched at Zim's words and his trying to make him happy.

"Oh, yeah... N-No need to thank me, Zim. I'm glad you like them, since you choose them by yourself. You should wear them all the time!" He said a bit too enthusiastic. "I-I mean, only if you want to..." Dib assured and looked up to Zim's head. The wig and... yeah, that was it!

Suddenly, he got a happy smile again and snatched the bag from under the bench with one hand "Hehe. But there's still missing something." Dib got up again and, with a quick motion, put the hats on both of their heads. The blue and the red one. "There!" He said chuckling. "Now we're complete."

Looking down at his jeans also, Zim thought about the suggestion. Yeah, they were pretty comfy, and they were something different. Well that decided it; he would. He did a quick little nod, more to himself than to Dib, as if to make the decision official.

He changed his gaze to the human when he heard the rustle of a plastic bag. Zim's face turned into a confused one at the sight of the other looking through the bag. What was he looking for? He soon got his answer when he saw Dib straighten up and holding the two hats.

He gave the human a 'you have got to be kidding' look, but he was also still smiling. Once the hats were on, Zim looked towards the human and held back a laugh at the sight. He knew that he looked ridiculous too, but that was half of the fun really. After a few moments, he couldn't hold back his laughter any more and began to laugh, like back in the shop. He was glad they had gotten these hats.

It worked again. Zim was laughing! Well, at Dib, but he really didn't mind, as long as they were laughing together (insert laughing sounds). Dib tried to speak several times, but failed. So, he just laughed on, enjoying the sight of a the happy Zimmy. Weird, he wasn't laughing at Zim's natural antennas. Quite the opposite, he was always amazed by them. But that hat was different. This fluffy wire-antenna-things DID look artificial and that made it fun.

After two more minutes (really!) of more laughing, chuckling and amused grins, he stopped and so did Zim. He sighed out contently and stretched his head out to the sun again. There were already some clouds collecting in the sky. But they were white and thin, so no need to worry. From time to time, they covered the sun for some moments, but it came out as strong as always, peeking through the white blanket and fluffy gas called 'cloudy...clouds'.

Once they had both calmed down, Zim watched Dib as he looked up towards the sky. He followed his gaze but saw nothing that interesting, so looked down at the floor. There was nothing really there either, but after a few moments of just looking, he saw a little black mark on the floor. But looking down closer, he saw it wasn't a mark, it was a spider. The Irken wasn't so keen of them, so moved his boots away from it slightly. The creature soon moved along.

He too eventually looked up at the sky since there wasn't exactly much else to look at. Well, he could watch Dib, but that'd probably just look weird and creepy... There were some white things in the sky. Zim had seen them before, obviously, but never known what they were. He knew that the dark, big ones brought rain... But these ones were small, white ones.

"What are those?" He asked, trying not to sound too much of an idiot with the question.

Why wasn't Dib surprised, something like that was going to be asked by Zim? A simple question. "Clouds. These white things are called clouds. A gathering of gas in the planet's atmosphere. They come in all different forms. Some just a thin haze, other -as you should know- are thick dark grey masses, saturate with water. And when those grey ones are getting too heavy, they drop their load, which means...it'll will eventually rain. Maybe a thunderstorm too, especially when it's so hot."

He almost felt like a teacher with Zim as his curious pupil. But as he heard himself speak, Dib got kinda worried if it would rain today. There was a good chance. He should give Zim one of his umbrellas someday soon. He didn't really use them, since he always liked the refreshing feeling coming from a heavy rainpour. But Zim needed one. Well, for now, the sky looked clear and the clouds were rather small, so the boy leaned back and shuffled closer to Zim, squeezing his hand here and there.

"'Dib-Friend, you're such a pain, forcing me to use my brain...'" He quietly mumbled under his breath to himself. He began to really like this little 'Dib song' from Zim, especially the last few words: "...but you're my Dib-Friend and I will stick with you, until the end.'" Zims half singing, half mumbling voice echoed around in his head.

Zim listened to the explanation, while still looking at the white fluff in the sky. He didn't understand how gas could hold water, especially the amount that comes down when raining; but just shook it off. He said the word 'clouds' a few times to himself to get used to it. They looked a lot like the stuff toddlers stick onto paper. What was it called? Cotton wool. Yeah, that was it. He'd seen it a lot on medical adverts between shows GIR watches too.

Zim noticed Dib move slightly closer, but didn't complain. He was quite enjoying the calm moment between them; which happened rarely. The warm sun was also a nice change compared to being in his base most of the time. Thinking about it, maybe it was time they got back anyway.

"Should we go back to the base? Or do you want to stay here?" He asked, looking towards Dib. Then he noticed that the human was mumbling something to himself. But it was too quiet to understand. Well, if he was saying it to himself, there was probably a reason; so decided not to ask.

"Sure Zim. Let's walk in the sun a bit. We don't have to hurry after all." Dib was only slightly worried what could happen in the base, since they'd be completely alone again. But otherwise, he needed this comfort. The base with only Zim and him in it (GIR was probably out- dancing or something...). They already spend half of the day out here.

He stood up and picked up the shopping bag, the stalks on his blue hat wobbling around all the while. "Okay, to the base!" He shouted and raised and giggled right after that. One hand full with the bag and the other with green Zimness. "We could get a cone of Ice-Cream, if you want. It's only a small detour, what do you think?"

When Dib stood up and yelled like one of those old TV shows that GIR watches...Batguy..man.. something like that, Zim couldn't help but smile. It was a nice sight to see the human happy again, and not upset or stressed.

He stood up also, and walked alongside the other. He listened to Dib's suggestion, but was sort of confused. Zim didn't exactly know what 'ice-cream' was... but he wasn't going to ask, since it would probably result in a really obvious answer...

So he decided he'd just wait to find out what it was. He knew what cream and ice were; maybe it was them combined? Well, he'd find out later. "Uh, sure." He said, a slight confused tone in his voice.

The other sounded unsure, so Dib guessed he'd never eaten ice-cream before. Not surprising, but still... cute. So they strolled hand in hand down the not- so- crowded- anymore alleys, passing music-shops, restaurants, bars and a jeweller.

It was weird, but Dib was somehow proud to show his hand-holding in the public. Not even the hats were a big deal for him. He knew they must looked strange and funny, but he didn't mind. Just having a nice day, is all. Dib stopped at the jeweller when he saw the big number of different sparkling stones and gold stuff.

Wanting to show it to Zim, he pointed vitrine. "Look, Zim. Isn't that beautiful?" Glancing back, he added: "Oh, t-that's called jewellery. Humans wear things like rings and chains made of rare metals like gold or silver. E-Especially women...umm... female ones..." He stuttered, a bit embarrassed now because of his excitement.

He just liked that stuff. All the different designs and many different coloured gemstones, neatly nestled into blinking golds and cool silver. Every piece was a little artwork. And sooo expensive... "A-And the colourful stones in some things are so called gemstones. It's a crystal dug from the soil and cut, so it can shine and glow and all...". Dib blabbered his train of thoughts away, not even knowing if Zim was listening, since his face was almost pressed against the glass.

As they were walking, Zim noticed that quite a few people were looking at them in a weird manner. He was confused for a moment or so, before he remembered the hats. He didn't mind wearing it so much when not many people could see, but now, it made him quite embarrassed. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't taking it off. It was another sign of their friendship, so he was keeping it on. Even if that meant people snickered.

The Irken just gave each person staring a quick glare, before turning his gaze to where the human was pointing. They had stopped at a shop window. There were shiny rocks inside... He turned his gaze back to Dib, and he seemed so interested in them. His eyes were wide and shining, like a little child, or GIR, being given a present or new toy.

Zim smiled at the sight, before looking back to what the human was explaining. So, these were valuable to humans? Well, Dib seemed to like them very much. "You look like one of your Earth children in a candy shop," he teased, looking back towards the boy.

Oh, Zim watched him. "W-Well, I can't help it." He pouted playfully. "It's shiny and all... and maybe I'll buy something like this. But probably it looks weird, wearing it. Anyhow, you're seeming always so interested in human... stuff, so I wanted to explain it to you." He mumbled towards Zim and made a smug smile.

"Besides... you're the one who likes candy so much. So you won't be able to resist the taste of Earth ice-cream." Dib flicked one of Zim's false antennae and grinned fondly at him. "It's made of cream and ice, you'll like it. Humans eat it mostly when it's hot outside. It's sweet, almost like your Irken snacks I've tasted, but not THAT sweet. Heh."

So, he was right about the cream and ice part at least. "But, wouldn't it just be a gooey mess?" He asked. Zim imaged someone pouring cream into a cone-shaped-thingy, and then adding crushed ice. Wouldn't that be more of a drink; or even just cold cream? If so, human's had really weird ideas of what to call food. Or maybe, it's frozen cream which is smashed? The Irken just shook his head, why was he even coming up with these weird ideas on what it is, when he'll see it later anyway?

But, now he was kind of looking forward to it, now that Dib had explained that it was sweet. Another thought came into Zim's head. Maybe it was like frozen candy? That'd be a pretty good idea for a food though, even if that wasn't what it was.


	28. Chapter 28

Zim's question was adorable like always. Dib chuckled and walked along "Heh. Nyah, Zim. You'll see. It's actually frozen, so kinda soft, but not so much that it would 'gooey'. Until, it melts away, so don't take to long time to eat it. Ah, there it is."

They reached a small metal wagon with a umbrella attached on it. Dib knew the ice-woman quite well, so they greeted each other warmly. It was Beth Penucci, an Italian migrant, who spoke English good enough to get along with her accent. She was just three or four years older than Dib and was a real beauty with her hazelnut-brown hair and green eyes.

Dib didn't know how, but a few months ago, he bought some Ice-cream here and instantly he came into a nice small-talk with her. Seeing the boy approaching, she smiled.

"Ciao, Dib. Long time no see!"

"Hi, Beth. Nice to see you too." He replied and grinned back.

They shared an implied kiss on the cheek, like it's custom in Italy.

When Beth noticed Zim beside Dib, she squealed.

"And who's that little guy? A friend of yours?" Reaching out a hand, she spoke to the Irken.

"I'm Beth. It's a pleasure to meet you!" She mustered him, while grinning down.

The Irken tried to imagine what the stuff would look like, he basically took the image he'd thought of before, but frozen. ...Looked like a ice-cube to him... But the image quickly vanished when he heard Dib point 'it' out. It looked like a bin but with other compartments... and an umbrella... Why would it need that on a day which wasn't raining?

When they reached their destination, Zim watched Dib and the female human greet each other... but in an odd way; and he couldn't help but feel a slight hint of jealousy, but didn't quite know why. So, decided to find something else to look at for a moment. But during this search, he heard a sudden squeal which caused him to jump slightly.

Quickly turning around, he saw 'Beth' looking at him and reaching out her hand. But, that 'little' comment was enough to put Zim in a slight bad mood. He crossed his arms as if to say he was not going to shake her hand, and glared at her slightly. He found himself growing a certain dislike towards this particular human.

Dib was well aware of that 'little'-word coming from Beth. Well, she didn't know any better. "Ahem... that's Zim. I guess he's in a grumpy mood today. Also, he's new in this town. His first week here, so I just met him at Skool. I'm showing him the city a bit. We just got some nice clothes."

Dib noticed Beth's funny grin along her lips as she mustered their hats. Dib grinned back.

"Oh, the hats! Yeah, pretty funny, right? Especially on Zim's head." He chuckled and turned to the side.

"Yeah, I like your blue one, Dib." Beth answered and flicked a stalk on Dib's head, which made him blush ever so slightly. Mostly, because Zim was watching.

"So, we'll have two with Vanilla flavour." He said and handed her the money.

While she was digging the spoon into the icy mass, she replied "I know. It's your favourite flavour. You never ordered something else. Heh."

She handed both cones to him and smiled again. "Buon Appetito you two!" She almost beamed and gave Zim an slightly sceptical look before they left. "Thanks, Beth. Bye!" Waving his hand, Dib didn't see that last look and turned around.

As soon as Zim heard the lie about him being new, he immediately looked back to Dib. Why was he lying anyway? His gaze turned back to 'Beth', anger slowly rising. He bet it was because of her. Now he was getting really jealous, but still no idea why. Why should he care if Dib was talking to another human? A female one... And when he saw the blush on the other's face, his glare turned into a slight scowl. Now he really didn't like this female...

She seemed to know more about Dib than he did... Which made his jealousy rise even more. Again though, why should he even care? It was just another human... When they were leaving, he stayed still long enough to see the face 'Beth' had pulled... Zim gave her a quick glare before following behind the other.

One thing was for sure, he wouldn't want to see her again. But, Dib seemed to be happy to see her, so he wasn't going to express his dislike towards her. But there was one thing he was going to mention. "Why did you lie about me being new?" He asked, looking up towards the boy.

Forgetting the two cones in his hands because of Zim's question, he thought about it. He didn't know himself why he lied. Or rather why he chose this lie. Of course, he wouldn't say Zim was an alien anymore. To anyone. "I-I don't know. Maybe it was the most... innocent thing to say about you. New in town and foreign and all. It just came out of my mouth without thinking. It's not... suspicious." He wondered why he was worried about that now. Nobody listened to him in the first place, despite Zims obvious alienness. But now, he didn't want to tell too much about Zim. Well, did he really know so much about Zim? His personality and all.

Suddenly he felt a chilly thing running down his fingers. "Damn, the ice-cream is already melting. Here take it and lick it." He insisted and handed one cone to Zim. "It's yummy, try it." Then he began to lick his vanilla scoop. Rather fast, so he was able to catch the streams of ice, which made its way down the waffle cone.

That made sense, he guessed. But before he could think about it further, Zim looked down at the cone he was given. It looked nothing like he had imagined, that was for definite. It was a yellowy-white colour, and in a deformed sphere shape. It was sitting in a cone, that looked like it was made of cardboard. He looked back up towards Dib and watched him eat his cone for a few moments, before looking down at his own. It didn't especially smell of much, maybe a slight scent, but nothing overpowering.

Zim looked at it for a few more moments before bringing it to his mouth, and giving the ice-cream a quick lick. His eyes widened and looked down at the frozen delicacy. It... it was amazing. Not quite like anything he'd tasted before. And the other was right, it was sweet. Maybe some Earth food wasn't so bad after all. He continued to enjoy the ice-cream as they both walked onward.

Dib was happy that Zim seemed to like ice-cream so much. Relieved that the other's expression changed, because a few moments ago, when they had left Beth's wagon, Dib looked at Zim a few times and saw that deep frown and anger radiating off of Zim. Why was he so crabby?

Maybe it was... He turned back while walking, seeing Beth serving another customer. Was Zim mad? Mad at Beth? Dib saw no reason for it, but still... could it be that Zim was kind of jealous?

Dib tried to switch the roles in his mind. This time Zim was the one who knew Beth and Dib was the 'new guy'. They greeted like before, they laughed, they talked like old friends... Dib cringed at that scenario in his head. He definitely wouldn't like it. Zim was HIS friend, no one else's. Unconsciously, he moved closer to Zim and watched the people passing by. 'Mine'.

With every taste of the ice-cream, it seemed to get better and better, if that was possible. It was like a half drink, half food type of... thing. Quite refreshing on a day like today, warm and sunny. The only thing that ruined the moment, was that female... Even though she was behind them and Zim probably wouldn't see her again, he hoped at least, he still hated her. He wouldn't admit that he was jealous, no way; but deep down, he was.

He didn't like how another human was friends with Dib... Since the same species seem to get along better with each other than two different ones... And she was a female... Maybe Dib liked her? That'd basically cut him out of the picture all together... Zim sighed slightly and lowered the ice-cream cone down, away from his face.

Of course, he noticed this change in Zim's mood again. Dib decided he should speak about it before it even gets a bigger problem later. 'So let's try this...'.

"You seem to like your ice-cream, Zim. That's good. Umm... listen. I see that it kinda annoys you that... that I get along with Beth so well-" Dib got a suspicion. But saying it aloud out yet would be... not so wise. Zim had no reason do dislike Beth; not after not even changing one word. So it must be some kind of jealousy which was bothering Zim so much.

"-B-But I can assure you, there's nothing going on between me and her. I don't see her so often. Maybe two or three times a month; whenever I'm... wandering around here. In the city." Yeah, thinking and stuff. "She's nice and sometimes we talk a bit about random stuff. B-But I don't like her THAT way. Really. Please don't think so." The boy was surprised how defensive he suddenly got. Why did he feel the need to assure Zim there was nothing 'going on' between him and Beth...? Anyhow, Zim would definitely NOT like it. Quickly, he began to eat his treat again, seeing how it was melting away without warning.

It kind of creeped out the Irken how Dib basically knew what he was thinking without any means of communication. But it also reassured him that nothing was going on that he didn't know about. He had seen it happen a lot of times at Skool, how two friends become close to strangers because one of them starts liking a female. Zim didn't want that to happen with him and Dib. No way.

But, it seemed like that wasn't going to happen, which he was thankful for. To be honest with himself, he didn't know what would happen if he wasn't friends with the human anymore... A life time just having GIR and Minimoose to talk to? It'd drive you insane eventually. But, he didn't want Dib to know that was what he was thinking, so quickly thought of something to say.

"Zim's not annoyed, you can talk to who you want too, doesn't make me jealous. Nope. Nor does it make me worry since females are stupid anyway!" He said smugly, before tensing when realizing that the human never did mention jealousy, or worrying...

He immediately turned his gaze to the ground, and continued to eat his ice-cream, blushing slightly. 'Think before you speak!' He mentally reminded himself.

It was the way Zim said that which striked Dibs attention. It sounded monotone. Like a mechanic recital. And so rushed. And when Zim looked to the ground, with a dark greenish hue in the face, Dib knew what was going on. A slight panic to maybe lose Zim was getting into Dib.

"Come on, Zim. I see it. I may not be psychic, but I know you and that face you're making. Trust me. She's just a ice-cream selling acquaintance. A-And if it's really bothering you that much, I won't talk to her again. Please, don't be mad at me!" And there it was: Dib's frolic mood was soon changed into worry about their friendship. Now he regretted talking to Beth. Despite the yummy ice-cream.

Dib got in front of his friend, licked the rest of his treat away and threw the empty cone away. Grabbing Zim's shoulders he softly, yet sternly, said: "Y-You're important to me, Zim. Like I said before. I care about you. And only you...Yeah... So let's get back to the base and see what we could do. Okay buddy?"

Zim wasn't surprised that Dib knew all that; after all he had known him for long enough to guess most things he did, which was kind of creepy. Yet now, he felt slightly stupid for making a big deal about something minor. Well, he did that all the time.

He too threw away his half-eaten cone, before looking at the human, whilst he spoke, and listened. The words were so, sincere and true... Something he hadn't heard much of back on Irk. He smiled slightly while replying. "Okay," He said, nodding. Zim debated with himself for a few moments, before putting his arms around the human's torso and giving him a quick hug, before backing off again. He didn't exactly want everyone to see after all.

"Sorry..." He quickly added, thinking he may have caused the other some embarrassment, and for making a big deal out of nothing just now.

For a brief moment he felt Zim's lanky arms around him, but before Dib was able to hug back, Zim already looking at him again, saying sorry and smiling. That was the Zim he liked. The one he wanted to have around all the time. "Hey, no need to be sorry, Zim. Remember... I'm your Dib-Friend and I'll stick with you until the end." He spoke, trying to mimic Zim's sing-sang voice from 2 days before.

Dib snatched a green hand and began to quickly walk down the alley, which eventually turned into a jogging motion, dragging Zim along. After two minutes or so, the base came in sight and without even realizing it he ran towards it, passing by the gnomes (he knew they were deactivated) and reaching the front door. 'Home', he thought and panted.

Being out of breath was a refreshing thing sometimes. He was alive and it felt so good.

The Irken cringed and blushed more slightly when he heard Dib repeat his accursed, dared song line... Most embarrassing moment of his life, so far at least. And no way he was repeating that. But before he could argue, he felt his hand get grabbed and began to get pulled along.

Zim was just happy to be holding Dib's hand again though, especially after the whole 'Beth incident'. Dib was HIS friend, not hers- well, maybe hers too... But he couldn't stop that, but he didn't really need to either.

Soon their walk turned into a slow run. Why was the human in such a rush anyway? No point asking though. He just watched the different houses and roads pass by. But after a while, the slow run turned into a fast run. It was kind of difficult to keep up with the boy though, since the new jeans weren't very flexible, since they were new. But Zim managed to keep up, just about.

As soon as they reached the base, they were both out of breath. "Why such the... rush?" Zim managed between breaths whilst opening to door with his free hand, and walking in. GIR wasn't back, thank Irk, so the building was quiet.

Panting along with Zim and entering the house, he automatically went for his boots and opened them before he stopped. He only did this at home...well, the base WAS his home, right? It felt more like it than his actually home-house a few blocks down the street... Dib walked to the couch with clinking buckles, sat on it and pulled them off his poor feet. Ah, much better.

He wondered why he hadn't doffed his boots before; he already spent almost the entirety of the last two days here, even slept with Zim and... 'What? That sounds way too weird!' He mentally snapped himself and soon his face was cherry-red again. But -creepy enough- it didn't really sound... bad. No. 'J-Just a misconception, nothing else.' He nervously looked up... and saw Zim, his head curiously titled to the side.

"N-Nothing wrong, Z-Zim." He quickly assured.

Watching the human, Zim wondered why Dib was taking off his shoes... He hadn't done the other times he'd visited, well, sneaked in before they were friends. Now thinking about it... He'd never seen Dib without his shoes, nor any other human for that matter. Actually, he'd never even seen a human foot before. Maybe it looked the same as their hands...?

His thoughts vanished though when he saw the blush form on the other's face. Well, he hadn't done anything this time... And Dib had only sat down... But when Zim heard Dib speak, he just shrugged it off. Sitting down next to the human, he noticed a piece of fabric around the other's foot...

"What's that?" He asked, pointing towards Dib's foot. It looked like a glove, but for feet... Probably another weird human piece of clothing.

His worrisome thoughts soon vanished when Zim showed once more his clueless-ness. It was hilarious.

"It's called a sock. Normally humans are wearing it under the shoe, so... I guess so we won't sweat that much, like without socks on. But in the summer, when it's so hot like today, many humans wears shoes called 'sandals'. They are mostly open, so fresh air get reach the foot easily. But to be honest-" He took both boots off completely and pulled off his blue socks.

"- I always wear those boots. They're warm in winter, and kinda cool in the summer, like now. So, I'm not really sweating on my feet. See?" He lifted up a foot and wiggled with his toes, while the other touched the metal floor "It's very nice to walk around with bare feet, especially when I feel such a cool floor under them." Dib made a funny face.

When the other took of his 'socks', Zim was more interested in the other's foot than the explanation. There were 5 toes, like a human hand had fingers, but where the thumb should be, it wasn't there. It was like another finger. They were all different sizes. He grabbed Dib's foot that was in mid-air, and inspected it more closely.

There were even nails on the toes, like on the end of human fingers. Zim looked down to the floor where Dib's other foot was. Exactly the same. "Dib-friend, why do you need as many toes as you have fingers?" He asked, poking each of Dib's toes on the foot which was in his lap, before looking back to the human's face. Dib was making a funny face; to which, the Irken couldn't help but giggle slightly.

Dib only wanted to show him his foot, but then Zim grabbed it. It tickled when Zim touched the bottom of the foot. But then... he even poked at his toes, all the while inspecting the foot and unintentionally rubbing against the sole. Dib was very ticklish there, so his eyes widened and a sudden yelp escaped his mouth and soon he was laughing against his will.

"Z-Zim... I don't really know but... maybe it's because of..." He couldn't speak proper anymore, so Dib just closed his eyes and slumped backwards against the armrest of the couch. "That's not... fair, Zim. Hahahahehe..." He said, before trying to block out his laughers and giggles by clamping a hand over his mouth.

Still inspecting the other's foot, Zim found it quite fascinating how tiny human toes were... Why were they so tiny anyway? But before he could ask anymore questions, he heard Dib make a quick noise of surprise, and was soon followed by laughing. Zim looked up to the human's face to see him trying to muffle his laughter with his hand.

The Irken smiled, almost evilly, at this sight. "Oh, is the human ticklish here?" He asked, already knowing the answer, before purposely tickling the boy's foot. He found it nice to hear the other's laughter, especially after all the years Dib had been bullied in Skool.

Now that they were no longer enemies, it was only now he saw how Dib was truly treated by his own race, like an outcast; and Zim felt sorry about all that... knowing it was also partly his fault for arriving here in the first place and causing the whole 'alien' matter. But if he hadn't, he wouldn't have met the human.

The Irken continued to tickle the other's foot, while looking at Dib's face, enjoying the laughter.

The other's pointy fingers made the tingling feeling even more intense, coating his foot and feeding his laugher. "Of course, you won't stop when you see your friend was that ticklish there..." Dib tried to squirm his foot away, but Zim used one hand to hold it on his lap while the other made the 'work'.

His eyes now tightly shut, the boy burst out in laughers. "Doooonn't... you little tease..." He whined and flailed his arms around futilely. Zim was too far away for them. The living room was now filled with never heard Dib-laughs and a smugly smiling Zim. Tears of joy were streaming down the boy's face, while he managed a few words.

"Just... wait. I'll get... revenge for that...If you ever stop..." He playfully glared at Zim, while trying to swat away the teasing green finger with his toes.

Hearing the protests that Dib was making only made the moment funnier. Zim kept a firm grip on the human's foot so he wouldn't be able to have it back. "Well that's just another reason not to stop then, isn't it?" He teased, and began to tickle even more.

A few days ago, this moment between the two of them would probably be unthought of, yet here they were; and it was a lot nicer to hear Dib's laughter than hearing them both arguing and giving each other death threats.

"Noooooo...it isn't...!" It was hard, but somehow Dib was able to lift his upper half with a swift motion. He grabbed Zim's tickling left hand and wrapped his own hand around the three fingers of Zim. Now he sat there: in a weird position with on foot on the ground while the other was being held in place by your teasing green alien-friend.

Dib was out of breath, so he took a few moments just staring at Zim, grinning like a happy child. And Zim didn't look less happy. That's how it should have been all the time. "Now... now you're... disarmed. And, heh, you'll never know why there are 5 toes. Your fault, Zim."

As soon as Zim felt Dib's hand on his own, Zim knew the fun was over. He'd have to remember this certain information though. For a while they just stared at each other, both smiling.

But as soon as Dib mentioned about him not knowing, Zim made a slight disappointed 'aww' sound. It wasn't that big of a deal though anyway, just curiosity. But he still sort of wanted to know. It was like why humans needed 5 fingers, or hair. They seemed useless, but when explained, they kind of made sense.

"Zim didn't want to know anyway," he lied, shrugging off the disappointment. He let go of Dib's foot, seeing that the position the human was in didn't look exactly comfortable.

Finally, his poor foot was free. Quickly, Dib sat cross-legged, hiding his feet that away and shuffled closer to Zim. Now he was in a playful mood; Zim was the one who started it after all.

"Hmm, if you behave, then I'll tell you... even MORE stuff about humans. Heh. It's normal to be curious. Your eyes for example. I bet you got a night-vision. Or your antennas! I bet they can...hmm.. well, I guess I already know what they're for. But your tongue., it looks like a ridged snake or.. yeah, your skin! Why is your skin so green? Or your voice. It's so... exotic. Or why does it feel so good when we..-" Oh boy, wrong turn again. "-Umm... I mean... there's so much to learn, Zim. I'm sure, we can get even better friends if we know more about each other, but... this will take some time I guess. It's fine, as long as I'm not... doing anything stupid." There was the babbling Dib again.

But it wouldn't be fun, if Dib were a silent rag doll.

Zim listened to Dib's questions and statements, but he was speaking so fast it was difficult to understand and keep track of what he was actually saying. It was kind of funny to hear some of the things the other was saying though too, since the human seemed to be more curious than he was. Every time he went to go and say something, he had to stop, since the other kept on speaking. Other's would maybe have found it annoying, but Zim didn't mind.

After all, Dib hadn't been listened to much at all. At school, and possibly at his own house? The human actually had some pretty interesting things to say, well, Zim thought so at least. Suddenly, the Irken felt an irritation on his eye, and he remembered that he still had his disguise on.

He lifted up his finger to Dib as if to say 'one moment', before turning his head around. He took of his hat which he was still wearing, before reaching for his wig and put them both on the arm of the couch; then popped out his contacts and lay them beside the other two items.

Zim turned back towards the human before speaking. "Okay, why DO you humans have 5 toes?" He asked, glaring slightly, wanting an answer.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the lifted finger. As soon as he saw Zim's undisguised, true nature. Yay! "Ya' know, your real feelers are way better than that hat." In this moment, he realized his own hat-covered head. He put it off too and his glorious Scythe-Lock sprung in the air again, flexible and proud like always, happy to be finally rid of that irritating blue hat. Dib stroked over it a few times and sighed contently.

Smiling dreamily at the Irken, he almost forgot the other's question. "Yeah, that's my amazing Zim in his best appearance." But then it popped up. "Oh...you wanted to know...right..." Dib clutched his head and shook it.

"Well, I guess it's a evolutionary remnant of our ancestors...back when humans were apes. They climbed up trees and such. And today, we're needing them to walk and stand right I guess. Like a stabiliser. You... you don't have to understand that, Zim. It's just what I've learned in Skool. But to me, it makes sense." There was the Teacher-Dib again.

Humans were once apes? Like... monkeys? Zim imagined a monkey, but it had glasses, like Dib's, and the same hair... Probably a big head too. It was a quite funny image. But then again, some humans weren't that different from apes even now. Maybe some didn't evolve correctly? Who knew...

Another image came into Zim's head. But this time, it was of a human with stabilisers, like you find on young children's bikes, on the sides of their feet. The Irken giggled slightly at that image. Maybe that's what may happen in the future? That'd be funny, that's for sure.

"Okay, your turn," he said, facing Dib again and waiting for a question.

Lifting a brow, Dib just giggled too. "Yeah, pretty funny. Anyhow..." Thinking about a proper question Dib mustered Zim. Hmm. His eyes were the most obvious, the most intriguing part of the Irken.

"Ya' know, your eyes reminds me of a bug. Most insects, like bugs or flies, got similar eyes." Dib got very close to Zim's face and inspected his eyes for some seconds. "Yep. Now I see these tiny, itty-bitty facets. And all of these are making your whole eye. Fascinating."

Getting back into his cross-legged position he finally asked. "What I wanna know is. Can you see in the dark with them and how far to the side and how sharp? Since they're bigger compared to your head than human eyes. I bet Irken eyes are far superior." Dib golden-brown eyes sparkled with curiosity and memorization.

"Tell me, Zim... you're such an interesting being."

The Irken backed up slightly when Dib came closer to his face. Zim knew that he was just getting a better look at his eyes, but the distance between them made him quite uncomfortable, but was relieved that the human backed off before anything 'happened'.

He thought about the questions, and the answers they needed for a moment. "Irkens are superior all together Dib-human, but as for eye sight, we have excellent vision. We can see in the dark, yes. And as far to the side as you humans can." He put his hands to the side of his head where his vision ended, which wasn't much different from a human's.

"But, you humans can only focus on one object at a time, correct? Irkens can view everything in our line of vision clearly; no matter how far away." Zim explained, feeling quite proud of his eyes now.

He knew that some humans had problems with their eye sight, so needed those glass things that Dib wore all the time. Apparently their eyes go all fuzzy, or something.

Dib knew, how uneasy it was making Zim, when he got too close to him, so that's the reason he backed away in the first place. If he had his way, he would watch Zim almost all the time. But telling this to Zim would creep him out like hell. The boy just couldn't help himself. He was even more curious now that they're friends. Weird.

Soaking up Zim's speech (and well noticing his proud expression) Dib was stunned. "Really... no matter how far and..all clear and night...stuff...Damn Zim, that's pretty cool. And I'm running around with these glasses, but they're a part of me. I wouldn't be Dib without them I think." Getting pensive, he hugged himself, draw his knees up to his chest and watched his alien friend closely, up and down.

"I'm so lucky I got you, Zim. Ya' know on one hand I feel sorry for your banishment, because you were so broken because of that. B-But if you would keep trying to invade the Earth, I...-"

Yes, Dib. The simple truth.

"- I would not be able to be your friend. So, mostly I'm glad for the banishment. It may sound egoistical, yes, but... You got no reason to have a mission and that means we can be friends without any doubts or... compromises."

Dib didn't really know why he was digging up that topic again, it felt like the right moment. The air between them was out of laugher or amused sounds. Solemn and meaningful.

"I hope I can stay your Dib-Friend all my life."


	29. Chapter 29

Zim had always wondered how those glasses Dib wore everyday actually worked... Did they change what light reflected as? Or maybe it was like a holographic projector to the human brain? Well, what he did know was that around 49% of humans wore them... Maybe their eye sight hadn't evolved properly either?

But the Irken's mental questions disappeared when he heard about his banishment... He had been trying to forget about it. Pretend that he was just being lazy with plans... But, no-one can run away from the truth.

Zim's antennae, which had been sitting happily upright on his head, soon drooped back sadly at the reminder. His carefree mood quickly vanished too, and was replaced with thoughts. Thoughts about Irk. About his old lab. His old friends- wait... What friends?

It just came to him... He had nothing back on Irk... No one did... Everything was to do with the empire... No homes. No - as the humans call it - 'family'. And most importantly, no friends...

Zim looked towards Dib, a slight frown on his face. He scanned the human, inspecting him; before smiling slightly. You know what, who needed the empire anyway? Earth wasn't... so bad... "Yeah? I hope so too!"

Just sitting there, crawled up and and watching Zim, Dib well noticed the signs and therefore the other's mood. Regarding this face it wasn't hard to guess what Zim was thinking about. Rejection...banishment... and exile. Dib had to say that. He felt, it was important for Zim to know that.

To know how he felt about Zim's situation.

To know that he got his Dib-Friend now, no matter what.

So when he saw that frown, Dib tensed for a brief moment, slightly frightened. Luckily, a tiny smile followed. "Oh..." Shifting in his spot and looking at his knees, Dib tried to come up with another topic. A less depressing one. Of course, the boy felt sorry for Zim, oh so sorry... but was it right to feel guilty too?

Maybe... it WAS his fault. Foiling the Irken's plans all the time. Well, the good ones. Not so many, but still... The thick silence which coated the air now was... uncomfortable. Something needed to be said. But what?

Looking up again and smiling was the only thing he could do at the moment, getting attracted by those shiny red orbs...

The silence that followed soon after their talk was extremely unwelcome. It made the moment quite awkward again. Zim didn't especially like noisy places, but neither quiet places... Checking his Pak's clock, in Earth time, it was around 3:00pm. So, there was quite a while until the end of the day.

Even though it was still the middle of the afternoon, a lot had happened today... Some bad, some good... Some things that Zim wouldn't mind doing again, some things... not so much.

Suddenly, there was a high-pitched scream from outside, followed by insane laughter. Zim sighed in annoyance, before raising up his hand, 1 finger in the air. After a second he lifted up a second finger, and then again after 3 seconds. So, all 3 fingers; before gesturing to the door, and as if foretold, GIR burst in, covered in mud and dirt.

The Irken rested his head in his palm which was propped up on the arm of the couch; and watched the mad robot run around in circles, laughing his head off... almost literally.

He sometimes hated that robot...

After hearing that noise, Dib just stared forward at the single finger. First he didn't understand the gesture, but got attentive none-the-less.

Then the second one... wait!

That sound, that screeching sound coming from outside. Slowly, the boy's eyes widened in horror. No. It couldn't be.

The third one. Oh boy.

It dawned him... GIR! Too late to run away, as he followed Zim's outstretched hand with his gaze; panic arose inside Dib when he watched the robot running around a few seconds. He desperately looked around the room... and saw his backpack in a near corner. Yeah. Back then, he threw it aside as soon as he entered the base and saw Zim: sitting on the floor and crying.

Without even thinking about that horrible scene, he jumped from the couch and dived for the backpack, getting hit by small splashes of mud. It trickled down his hair, while he snatched the backpack, ran to Zim and grabbed a green hand. Although, Dib chuckled while speaking: "Come on, Zim. Let's get out of here and down to our room."

Watching Dib lunge towards the bag, Zim sat upright, and couldn't help but find the scene slightly funny. It looked like he was in a battle or war, ducking behind a bunker or wall to avoid getting his head blown off. But then again, getting caught by GIR would probably end up with a doomed fate like that... Or worse...

Zim now wondered what was in that backpack, since he hadn't noticed it before. In fact, when did it get here? Maybe it was from earlier... But before his thoughts could progress, his hand was snatched.

'Our'...? Zim thought, but just shook it off.

"Oh, okay," he said quickly, nodding slightly. He wanted to get away from GIR as much as Dib did. They both ran into the kitchen and to the elevator.

He still needed to clean up the kitchen... Oh well.

Once they were in the elevator, Zim pressed the floor they needed, and the machine started up. "What's in the bag anyway?" He asked, pointing to Dib's backpack.

The elevator's zooming sound filled the air, when Dib heard Zim speak again. Now that his friend mentioned it, the backpack was quite heavy. So he put it on the ground and opened it.

The first thing he saw was his old Gamecube. Right... he brought it here so he could play some video games with Zim. That scenario instantly painted a grin to Dib's face. Yeah, that would be fun. What would be more teasing than beating Zim in a shooter-video game?

He hoisted the console out of the sack and inspected it, when a 'bling' was heard and the elevator stopped. Smiling up at Zim, Dib pointed to the cube.

"My console for video games. So we can play against each other or together. Let's connect it to something."

He got up, handed Zim the console and carried the backpack before marching out of the elevator into the short corridor towards 'their' room.

Inspecting the cube, Zim followed Dib down the corridor. The Irken turned the cube around many times, trying to get a good look at it; but at the same time, trying not to drop it. So, this was a human video game console?

The only other one he'd really seen was the one that Dib's sister, Gaz, always has... Did she ever put that thing down? He doubted it.

There a few words on it, including 'Gamecube' and 'Nintendo'... There was also a few mini buttons... Reset, Open and others. There were a few slots where, maybe controllers, go in. Who was this 'Nintendo Gamecube' anyway? Maybe the creator of this box?

The two of them soon reached their destination. Zim guessed that this box-thingy needed a human TV to work. So, looking at the ceiling he yelled: "Computer! Transport the TV here..." When he got no response, he added: "Now..." And after a few moments, the floor opened up and the TV from the living room came up. A few wires from the ceiling came down, and attached themselves to the machine - bringing it to life. Zim turned to Dib. "Now what?" He asked, turning the box around in his hands again.

He poked a few of the buttons curiously, but yelped when the top of it opened up - quite quickly. He held it at arms length, like it was about to explode or attack.

Emptying the backpack and sitting on the bed, Dib stopped when he saw Zim fumbling with the cube. It was amusing to just watch his alien friend inspecting the strange machine until... the cap sprang up, so Zim was scared and held the console away like something dangerous.

Several games fell to the ground because Dib held his belly and laughed his ass off, falling on his back on the sheets. "Haha... Zim! Don't be afraid. It won't hurt you. Look." He got up and snatched the Gamecube away from Zim.

Inserting a random shooter game and plugging in two controllers, Dib sat in front of the TV on the bed, cross legged of course, and patted the place beside him.

"Stop standing there and get here, so I can beat you, Zimmy." He said and blinked at Zim, already playing with the controller in his hand.

Turning his attention back to Dib when he heard laughing, Zim immediately glared at the boy, yet blushed slightly. Well of course it wouldn't hurt him. It was only a gaming console... Yet it had made him jump.

Besides that, Zim also looked down at the different cases that fell to the ground. They were all different games, obviously, but they were quite interesting to the Irken; since the only game he'd seen a human play, was -again- what Dib's sister plays...

Something to do with vampire pigs...

Zim watched the human put a disc into the lid-thingy and then close it... So that's what it was for; and then two controllers... Hearing Dib's competitive remark, he too made his way to the bed and sat down.

"We'll see about that!" He said, grinning slightly. But when taking the other controller and having a look at it, his grin soon turned into a confused frown. ...This may be more difficult than he thought.

Dib smirked to himself at that. Making a challenge, a competition to Zim was always a good idea. A way to trigger the proud side of him. It was nice to see Zim like that.

"Of course..." He said and looked beside him.

Right. First explaining the few buttons and their use to Zim. "Wait. Lemme show you the tutorial first." A menu appeared on the screen; the game called "Zombies... Everywhere!" Dib instantly thought about that zombie story he told Zim a day before. Now that was funny. How frightened Zim was and even clutched desperately to him, trembling and green. Heh. So Zim should like this game very much. Heh.

"I chose the perfect game for you..." Some pushes on colourful round buttons later, a child was now seen on the screen, holding a small kitchen knife in its shaking hands and stood in the middle of a street. The air was filled with grunting noises and zombies crawled around in the distance.

"There. This is the tutorial, Zim. It tells you which buttons you must press to perform different actions like running, jumping and using your weapon. A knife in this case. Just follow the instructions and soon you'll kill your first zombie."

Dib leaned back, supported on a elbow and watched how Zim would react. It was already dark in this room; no window after all. Quiet too. GIR was (hopefully) away for some time. So... perfect atmosphere for two buddies to play a horror, slaughter game!

After a few moments of just turning the controller round in his hands, Zim instantly looked up when he heard some type of horror music. It was the games title music he guessed. Reading the title of the game, Zim remembered the day before, the story Dib had told him... Ugh, it was embarrassing the way he had acted... But, nothing he could do about it now.

Once the tutorial was up, some instructions soon followed up on the screen. "Use left analog stick to move..." He read out-loud, before looking down at the controller... He guessed it meant the stick on the far left of the device; so pushed it forward, and sure enough, the character on screen moved too. Zim's grin returned.

Well, at least he was getting somewhere with this game. 'Press A to jump'. And pressing the green button, the character jumped. When the child got a certain distance, the zombies in the distance began to approach. Zim tensed and quickly read the next instruction.

'B to attack'. Pressing the red button, the knife that the child was holding made its way through the air and straight into the torso of a zombie. Quite a bit of blood appeared at the wounds, but nothing too graffic.

The Irken kept pressing that button repetitively until the un-dead creature fell to the floor.

Zim immediately stood up and pointed towards the screen! "HA! No-one tries to kill the almighty Zim! Hear that un-dead scum?" He yelled, grinning; before remembering it was merely a game, and sitting down quickly, blushing slightly.

Zim did as he was told from the game and soon he got his first victim, lying on the ground and bleeding. When Zim literally jumped up and yelled... well, what did Dib think about it? 'Good old Zim'. No awkward moments or sorry spoken all the time. Just having fun together.

"Don't be too proud, Zim. It was just the tutorial. Yep. It explains the basic things. Not hard. Move, jump and kill. That's all. But good, you're happy again."

He crawled very close to Zim and grabbed his shoulders, making a playfully scared face. Staring at him with wide eyes, he whispered. "Because I SWEAR I heard a groaning noise here. Not from the game and not GIR. Maybe... maybe there ARE zombies around here. Who knows?"

Listening to the other's words, Zim looked around the room quickly, checking for any changes or creatures with rotting flesh and eyes like stone, but saw nothing. So turning back to Dib, he simply moved the other's hands off his shoulders and back to their owner's lap.

"There are no zombies here, you said so yourself, human" He pointed out, before returning his gaze to the screen. He'd already been tricked by the other's story before, so not again. But still, he was slightly creeped out by how dark the room was; especially about all this talk of zombies... So kept checking the room every few moments...

During one of his checks, he heard a sharp yell; which made him jump slightly. Turning back around he saw that the character on screen was getting attacked by one of the creatures. But before he could even start pressing the attack button, the child fell to the ground and two red, blood dripping words appeared on the screen.

"Game over..." Zim read out-loud, before crossing his arms in anger. "This game's stupid..." He mumbled, annoyed how he died in the tutorial level.

Oh. It wasn't so easy anymore to scare Zim. Still, it was fun to try it. "Heh. You got me. There are no zombies, right. But... it's kinda creepy here still. I would rather have slow and dumb zombies crawling around in your base than to have to deal with GIR from time to time. You'll never know when and how he could appear. Maybe you can get used to it, but to me it's... annoying. Anyhow-" He said and grabbed his own controller again.

"- it's training to get you used to the few buttons. Now we could play a normal level. Together or against each other in a competition about who will kill more zombies."

Press and switch...

"There. You can even chose your avatar. Child, woman, grandpa and stuff like that. And your weapon. Rifles, knifes or the bare hands. Creepy."

The screen split into two halves and soon he chose his tool and figure. A little boy with a huge bolt cutter balancing on its shoulder. It stumbled a bit but seemed dangerous non the less.

Watching Dib choose his character and weapon, Zim kept in mind of all the different selections you could make... There were around 8 characters and lots more weapons. Using the controller, he began to choose his own avatar.

He went through the list twice, thinking that they were all weird looking, before deciding on a tall looking man. Maybe the height would be an advantage?

Changing to the weapon section, he decided on a heavy looking crowbar with blood stains on. It looked like a simple weapon, but could do some good damage to a zombie if you swung it hard enough.

Dib smirked at Zim's choice. He guessed Zim would choose the tallest character available, knowing how important mere height was for the small Irken.

Dib selected a level with 'easy' difficulty, so Zim could train his combat abilities. There were actually many, many different moves possible, every avatar got his own ones. And with Zim's strong and muscular human it should be no problem to slam hordes of zombies away.

The lettering 'Fight for your life' appeared separately on both sides and the first un-dead were already coming towards the virtual child and man. Dib killed one after another and cut thorough legs and necks with his big 'scissors', while thinking: 'why are zombies always soooo slow and dumb?'

Now and then he glanced to Zim's side on the left. Hmm. He made an appreciating noise. Zim wasn't bad at his first try.

'This game isn't so bad,' Zim thought to himself, as the virtual crowbar glided through the air right into a zombie's head, before it fell to the floor in a bloody mess. 'No bad at all,' he mentally added at the show.

All this time he thought humans had no idea of what war and proper brutal battles were, with blood and guts and such. But, this game seemed to prove otherwise. Even if it was a bit far fetched. For example, what would a child be doing with a bolt cutter? Or how would no-one else be fighting the creatures?

Oh well, it was only a game. A pretty good one too. So far he had killed around 4 or 5 zombies, which wasn't bad, but not impressive either. The main thing was that he was actually staying alive this time though.

Another zombie approached his character, but one quick swipe with the metal bar and soon it was on the floor, organs pouring out of it's stomach... Even Zim had to think that was pretty disgusting... So moved on to the next army of mindless un-dead.


	30. Chapter 30

So they went through hordes of zombies. Crowbar and bolt cutter moving together in a bloody dance of crippled limbs and splashes of stinky blood. Soon the man and the child were covered in blood and even laughing cruelly (well, only Zim's character, while Dib's child one was crying but killing non the less).

Dib looked to the side several times for a second and enjoyed the satisfied grin on the other's face when he hit a zombie over and over again. Quite the opposite from the Zim who was purring in Dib's arms and mumbling stuff.

Zim got a kinda predatory side and a cute, submissive one. Gaming or touching, yelling or purring...

In this moment, a high pitched shouting was heard. Dib quickly looked at the screen and saw his avatar lying on the ground while an un-dead woman was sucking at its head, trying to get to the brain.

"Damn..." He mumbled and threw his controller beside him.

Zim looked towards Dib's side of the screen when he heard those shouts, and saw that the human's character was pretty much doomed with a zombie attached to its head... So, he'd won? He'd won!

His concentrated smirk soon turned into a triumphant grin. "Zim wins! Ha! Now who's the superior gamer?" The Irken mocked, pointing towards Dib before bursting into his old evil laugh. But as soon as he realized that what he was doing, soon stopped and covered it up with a quick cough and putting his hands in his lap.

Looking back to the screen, it soon displayed the same 'Game Over' symbol from before. He'd finally beaten the human! Maybe not in the way he had intended to during all his past plans, but still, he'd won in something! Even if it was just a game. He was quite pleased with himself.

Look how happy Zim can get with just playing a video game. Still, Dib thought that he would win. "But only because I got distracted by... umm by you." He quickly sound an excuse.

"I didn't watch the screen because I was looking at you. Y-You seemed so happy while playing, enjoying all the cruel stuff." Dib pouted a bit and played with the sheets, looking down "A-And it's not weird. You're just... interesting."

Those sounded a lot like excuses to Zim, but who was he to complain? He'd won! And he'd probably hold that against Dib if he ever mentioned video games again. But he'd been watching him? ...That sounded kind of creepy, but then strangely Dib-like.

"Well of course I'm interesting. But you are too human," he said, poking the other's nose. Zim found it an odd way to tease the human. Even though it probably didn't amount to much.

He smirked before continuing. "Even if you are bad at your own planet's video games. I'd hate to see you in a real zombie attack," he added, laughing slightly.

He imagined a deserted street, with Dib running down it being chased by a mob of zombies. But then again, he'd probably do the same if he didn't have a decent weapon.

"Yeah you are, but... no poking!" He complained, but laughed non the less. "But I guess it's fair for you to do that, since you got other things I can poke in return. Hehe. Aaaand remember, YOU were the one who believed zombies are around the base, wanting to eat your precious brain."

He thought about it and reached out to snatch Zim's previously poking hand. "Still, I must admit you're pretty good at playing video games. Especially considering that being your first try with a human game console and..."

He lifted the green hand and inspected it closely with only three fingers.

"Slender green alien fingers," he quietly mumbled the last part.

A slight smile came across the Irken's face when he saw Dib inspecting his hand again. He had noticed over the past couple of days that he had a thing for his hands. Whether that be the hand holding or just looking at them. He himself didn't think much of them, they were just normal hands to him. But then again, Dib always did pay attention to the small details.

Yet, at the reminder of the other day's zombie tale, Zim's proud mood turned into an embarrassed one. "Well... My brain's too important to be eaten, that's the only reason..." He debated with himself whether he should or not, before poking the human's nose again with his free hand. He thought that Dib deserved that for bringing that subject back up.

After that second poke, Dib just grabbed the second hand, making a funny face again. "You're doing it again. But now... now I got you, so it won't happen again." He crawled nearer and played around with now six green fingers.

"And you're right. Actually, the whole Zim is far too important to get eaten. After all, I need my friend, so no-one will eat you." He assured. "I like your hands," he mumbled to himself as if to defend his weird but rather Dib-like behaviour.

Looking up, Dib mustered the other's face, for like the millionth time. "Z-Zim, every time I look at you I... I get this knotting feeling in my belly a-and the more time we're spending together the more it's aching, tingling... Wow, I'm getting even more weird by the minute." As if he just realized that fact... "And every time I'm thinking about Zim and what he would think about. What you are thinking. About me maybe."

Dib didn't know why he was saying all this, but every time he was alone with Zim and got no idea of what to do, his mind was filled with the purring Zim, hugging him tight and being so... cute.

The care free and teasing moment had suddenly left and been replaced with a quite meaningful moment instead. Zim listened to all that Dib had to say, whilst looking down at both their hands. Yeah, he'd been getting weird sensations where the humans called their 'stomach' too... Especially in moments like this, when there wasn't that great a distance between them.

"The Dib isn't weird... well, anymore than usual. And, I've been feeling the same kind of thing... Not the exact same as you just described, but the squeezing feeling... yeah." He admitted, looking at Dib's face instead of their hands.

"Yeah, you mentioned it before. Yesterday. Feeling weird. So we got that in common, hm?" Now Dib was kneading the two green hands out of nervousness. Zim was looking at him and there were those eyes again! After inspecting them (well, rather enjoying them), he got the sudden urge to take off his glasses, so he just did it.

Amber-coloured human eyes stared at ruby Irken ones. "How do I look without glasses? Can you see my eyes better than before?" He gulped and tried not to move forward even more.

When Zim saw Dib without his glasses, he felt his own eyes widen every so slightly. Had he seen the human without his glasses before? He didn't think so.

Zim moved forward, quite close to the human's face, to see his eyes properly. They were a golden colour, with hints of light brown in... They seemed to shine even though there wasn't much light in the room. Zim hadn't seen a human with eyes quite like them before. Since Dib had always had his glasses on before, it had almost completely blocked out the colour and shape of his eyes... And what eyes...

Even from his point of view they were pretty amazing... Zim backed up slightly, knowing that the closeness was probably making the human uncomfortable.

"The Dib-human looks... nice." He said, choosing his words carefully.

Dib didn't budge when Zim was sooo close. Which was a hard task; very hard not to catch those green lips with his own, when they were so temptingly near... But before anything happened, Zim leaned back.

Dib unintentionally let out a tiny whimper. He was slightly disappointed, but on the other side relieved. Nothing could turn into awkward stuff as long as no touching was involved, right? But it was quite hard for Dib to abide to this. Well, he got Zim's hands for now. But... it wasn't enough!

All the while, Dib's blush got redder by the time. And this time were just a few seconds. Thinking was only fuelling it. Thinking about how it would feel to... Anyhow, he well noticed how fascinated Zim was. With his widened red orbs and a slightly opened mouth. And saying something was 'nice' was quite a big deal for Zim to say out aloud. Dib knew that, so he felt kinda appreciated.

In his mind, he counted all this compliments, which Zim gave him in the last two days. He got a nice laugh, a nice smile, interesting fluffy hair, shaped like an 'single human antennae', even a hole in his belly! Wait... that wasn't really a compliment, but still it was cute how curious Zim sometimes was. Another common thing.

Dib could be sure for that to be true, since it was a big deal for Zim to say stuff like that. "You think so? T-Thanks I guess... umm same for you," he replied sheepishly and still massaged green fingers with his pale ones.

These type of calm moments were still new between the two of them. But, it was a nice kind of new. Zim was just happy that nothing more than hand-holding had happened so far, but then again, he also kind of enjoyed those 'moments' too, even though he'd never admit that out loud, or even to himself. Like it had been explained many times before, friend don't do that; so admitting that would just make the moment, and possibly even the friendship, extremely weird.

The Irken noticed the blush on Dib's face, and regretted getting so close to him just to inspect his eyes... But, he'd have to admit that Dib had much better eyes than other human's he'd met. Way better. Looking down at the other's glasses, which were now next to the human, a question made its way into Zim's mind.

"What can you actually see without your glasses?" He asked. Could the boy even see at all? Or maybe everything was just blurry? He didn't know, since Irken's never had eye problems, and if they did, they were immediately eliminated; since they wouldn't be useful on missions or in labs.

He liked Zim's closeness very much, but was also kinda relieved nonetheless when the other draw back, because Dib couldn't control himself anymore, when Zim was so close for more than a few moments. Almost automatically, he would have grabbed that green face, kissing and rubbing it or just feeling the soft skin there. But if that would happen Dib would probably end up embarrassed and depressed again, thinking Zim was mad at him.

So Dib was glad to talk about another topic for now. His eyes. Well, he never really thought about them, just knowing the colour was uncommon, even in his small family as far as he knew. But it was nice when Zim asked, seeming very interested in his human eyes.

But the blush stayed on his face. So, looking up at Zim he saw red orbs and green, the rest a bit blurry but still clear enough to make out some details. Just because, he was merely a few centimetres away from Zim, otherwise he wouldn't see anything beside contours and mixed colours. He knew that, when he watched the sky and streets nearby from his bedroom window at night. He was short-sighted like most people with glasses.

"R-Right now, when you're so near me I can see you pretty good, good enough to make out that you're looking at me, but without the glasses your eyes are... just r-red and not so gloomy, shiny anymore. It's all a bit dull without glasses, but not so bad when I see nearby things." Smiling, he widened his eyes a bit. "Heh. Y-You seem to like my eyes, Zim. I like it."

Whilst listening to the other's explanation, Zim tried to imagine what it would be like to see things like that without some sort of help. It wouldn't be that great, especially since you need a nose and ears to keep those glasses by your eyes. Maybe that's why there was no help for the visually impaired Irkens back on Irk... Or maybe the Tallest were just too lazy to help them!

Ever since his banishment, Zim had been starting to grow a hatred towards those leaders... He'd done nothing but work for them, and then they abandon him without so much as a 'thank you'.

The Irken got snapped out of his thoughts when Dib continued to speak. "Well yes... There aren't any other species with eyes like you humans... Especially you." He said, mumbling the last part under his breath, more to himself than to Dib; hoping he hadn't heard it.

Suddenly, he had an idea to get the human back for the other day's zombie story. Now knowing the human couldn't see long distances very well, he quickly got off the bed and made his way around the sides, ducking down so the human couldn't see him.

Once he had gotten so he was behind Dib, he made sure he hadn't seen him. He hadn't. With a smirk, Zim lunged at Dib. "Zombie attack!" He yelled, before beginning to tickle the human.

Knowing Zim must have seen may different species in his life, it was even interesting to hear that human eyes were unique. And the last mumbled part was barely intelligible. Dib guessed he had heard an 'you', but that was it. But Dib caught the meaning. Were his eyes that special? Well, he hadn't see many humans close enough to see the detailed eye colour of them. He decided to just be happy for these compliments coming from Zim. He wanted to say something... when suddenly Zim was out of is view field. Too fast.

"What? Zim, what's goi-" He stopped at hearing a sudden shout from behind him and wanted to turn around, but it was too late... He felt swift finger dancing around his sides and belly. Even with his shirt one it was horrible... horrible funny.

He fell on his back and cringed on the sheets, laughing like a maniac. Like a Dib being tickled. "N-Nooo...z..zombies don't tickle. Not fair...Zim... you sneaky bastard." He flailed out his arms a bit, but not with too much effort, since he somewhat enjoyed the tickling. "Just... just wait...when I... g-get free..."

Zim grinned at hearing Dib's laughter, and began to tickle faster. "But this zombie does," he explained, laughing himself. This was the closest thing to an attack that he actually felt right about doing now. And it wasn't even that much of an attack. But still, it was fun. Fun to see the human laughing.

Yeah, this was good enough payback for scaring him the other day.

"And the Dib-human won't get free until you surrender to the almighty Zim," he teased, poking the other's nose with one hand before returning it to continue the attack; knowing the human didn't like that much either.

"No. I... I won't surrender to a... t-tickling zombie alien! I... will... fight back!" Dib yelled between his laughers. It was hard to speak, so resistance was necessary. Also, his lungs began to hurt, since normal breathing was out of the question.

But it was a good ache. Feeling alive and happy. He instantly saw his chance when he felt the nose-poking hand again. He hastily grabbed Zim's wrist and- out of an strange urge like survival instinct or so- lightly bit onto one of the green fingers, before he was even aware of it.

Feeling the other's hand on his wrist, Zim knew that was probably as much of payback as he could do, for now at least. But as soon as he felt his finger being bit on, he instantly stopped his tickling.

He thought that it was kind of a 'cute' way for Dib to fight back. But soon another thought popped into his head, and his eyes widened greatly.

"GERMS!" Zim yelled, remembering how many germs was in a single human mouth alone, and tried to get his hand back, but the human's grip stayed strong.

Ha, it worked! 'Wait.. what did I do?' He mentally asked. But soon he heard Zim yelling, He titled his head to the side in confusion, before finally remembering what happened. 'Did.. Did I bite him!? Oh boy'. His face flared up and he quickly sat up. Well, at least the tickling stopped.

"Z-Zim, it was the heat of the moment I guess. I didn't intentionally..umm.. bite you." Still, he felt hurt a bit, hearing how germy he was in Zims eyes. Pouting, he looked up at his friend. "My mouth isn't germy, Zim. At least they won't hurt you." Speaking of that, the memory of the two kisses he shared with Zim (by now) plopped up, so he added more teasingly.

"And you didn't mind my 'germy' mouth when we kissed." While he changed the grip on Zims wrist into holding his hand instead.

Having that topic brought back up immediately made Zim blush heavily. He looked down and starting fiddling with the hem of his uniform top. "Well no... t-that was d-different..." Different how? Even he didn't know. The Irken just needed an excuse, and quickly.

He didn't know why he didn't realize or make a fuss about the germs when they... kissed... Maybe it was because he didn't mind at the time?

"And of course they can hurt, haven't you seen your own planet's films?" He asked, remembering that movie GIR watched ages ago which taught him about germs in the first place.

So Zim DID like the kisses; the way he was blushing said it all. "Well, there are good and bad germs. The bad ones are causing human diseases mostly. But as far as I know, in a human mouth there are just good ones, helping to make it clean and healthy. I guess I know what kind of films you mean. Alien invaders are struck down by human germs.. M-Maybe that is possible, but nothing bad happened to you, right? Heh, except for that pimple you got in the past."

Still, the thought of Zim getting sick because of simple germs or a flu was terrible.

"At least, physical contact like, ya' know, cuddling and k-kissing don't hurt you because of germs. I'm glad. So... umm... we could do it more often."

"Well yes, that was GIR's fault and his stinky pizza," Zim explained, shuddering at the memory. Pizza was plain disgusting, with all the cheese...

So, not all germs were bad, and they couldn't harm you just at contact? Interesting. But, he'd gone through his time on Earth, cautious of all germs, when there was no point? Well, that was a waste of time.

"Still don't like germs though," he added, looking back towards Dib and seeing he still didn't have his glasses on. Zim liked the human's eyes, yes, but he looked more like... well, Dib, with his glasses on. So, reaching over and picking up the human's glasses with his free hand, he returned them to their rightful home, on Dib's face.

He didn't think he put it on right, since Zim had never done it before, but he was sure that Dib would put them right.

As soon as the glasses were back on Dib's face, his vision immediately became clear again. Like it always had. Honestly, he wouldn't mind taking of his glasses when he was alone with Zim. Because he said he liked the boy's eyes. So without the glasses on, Zim could see his beautiful eyes better, even if that means having a bad vision for the time being. But now that he felt the slight weight of the glasses back on his nose, he knew that Zim liked the normal Dib-look more.

It was true. Dib without his glasses is not the real Dib. Like a Zim with his disguise on. They were hanging skewed, so he set them right with one hand and sighed. Yep. Better. More... familiar.

"Got it, no pizza for you." It was good to know that, since Dib actually considered to order a big one to share.

"S-So, Zim. Guess what we could do now?" Fiddling with green fingers, Dib grinned nervously at him and scooted closer. He felt kinda intrusive in that moment, but it was worth a try, right?

Yeah, Zim preferred the human with his glasses on, even if it did hide his eyes slightly. But he looked slightly different with them off. When the other moved closer and Zim felt the human begin to mess with his fingers again, he knew that Dib was nervous again, but why?

He looked towards the human's face again and saw a slight grin; which was replied by Zim pulling a confused face and shrugging.

Instead of babbling again, Dib just leaped forward and pulled Zim into a tight hug. He began to laugh, quietly first, but getting louder with the seconds.

"Oh Zim, my clueless amazing Irken friend. Let's cuddle!" Cuddling wasn't bad, right? No awkwardness, just enjoying calm moments together. Dib pressed his cheek against Zim's and rubbed the other's back, trying to say it was alright.

Zim let out a slight yelp when he was pulled in for a hug, since he wasn't expecting it. When he heard the laughter coming from Dib, his confusion grew. What was so funny? He soon got his answer. Zim pouted slightly at the 'clueless' remark, but let it go when the human also added 'amazing'. As long as he covered up the insult with a compliment, that was fine.

"Uh, okay," he said, smiling slightly, hugging Dib back. Yep, this was way better than tickling payback.


	31. Chapter 31

Honestly, Dib didn't want to speak at the moment, but he guessed it would make Zim more comfortable and less awkward. So, taking a deep breath and smelling Zim's faint scent, Dib sighed contently and mumbled. "T-This feels nice and... comforting. Just a simple hug, but so good."

And Dib was so happy when Zim hugged back almost immediately. Enjoying the moment of his squishy Zim pressed against his body, Dib even tightened his hug and used his fingertips to massage Zim's back, wanting to making him more relaxed, since he was still a bit tense.

This closeness was a good and natural gesture and Zim need to know that. Still, Dib tried to not creep out his friend... again. A slightly cooler green cheek was pressed against his, causing a tiny shudder down his back.

Feeling the human tighten the hug, Zim let out a breath which he didn't know he was holding, nor why. One thing was for sure though, he strongly agreed with Dib. Yeah, these 'hugs' were extremely nice. They take away some stress you don't even know you had; which was good. Especially when the person hugging you is also massaging your back...

Zim let his chin rest on the human's shoulder, since he found it slightly more comfortable. These moments with Dib were probably the best. Calm and relaxing. He smiled slightly again, and felt himself begin to purr also, but this time only extremely quietly; which was better than its normal volume.

Zim rolled his eyes at this, but just tightened his hug and nodded in agreement to Dib's statement.

They stayed like this for several minutes. Only breathing -human and Irken- was filling the air. The tiny vibrations coming from Zim, was noticed from Dib unconsciously at most. Still, he did, closed his eyes and smiled to himself in satisfaction.

His breathing was flat because of Zim's tight grip, but Dib wouldn't wanna have it another way. Tight was good. And Zim got more and more relaxed, because of his five massaging fingers. Also, the more relaxed Zim got the stronger got that squeezing, tingling feeling in his belly. It was the thing, which tells his brain to do other touching stuff, waking Dibs 'other side'. But he was too scared to go further, since it could destroy this peaceful moment with Zim. So, it was not really worth it.

It was hard to resist. After some more minutes, he began to tremble ever so slightly. His back-kneading stopped and his eyes were tightly sealed shut, trying to control himself. "...Z-Zim..." He whispered, almost scared and pressed more into his Irken friend.

"Hmm?" Zim mumbled, thinking it was the beginning of a question; but soon his carefree mood faded, and was replaced with worry when he noticed the change in Dib. He was shaking... Zim loosened his hug around the boy, thinking maybe he had hurt him in some way. He also moved his head so that he could see the other's face.

He saw that Dib's eyes were firmly shut, and he looked slightly... scared... or maybe it was being nervous? He didn't know.

"Human? What's wrong?" Zim asked, wondering if maybe the hug was a bad idea after all. He looked down at the human's shirt, half expecting to see blood or something from the wound. Nope, nothing...

Hearing Zim speak slowly opened his eyes. A concerned look, mixed with confusion shining from ruby orbs met his gaze... Dib tried to look at Zim while speaking, but it was hard to stay focused when he looked into these elusive red eyes... "N-nothing's wrong... it's just... just...that weird warm, tingling f-feeling. Nagging me... t-to not just hug you... to touch you m-more...kissing you and stuff," he whimpered.

Suddenly he felt horribly ashamed of himself and his stupid emotions who seem to have their own will. But he did not want to cry again in front of Zim. His eyes got a bit glassy, a tiny bit wet, but nothing more for now.

"J-Just like... in the changing room today. It got me and... kinda told me to do this t-things." Unintentionally, he gripped Zim's sides, since hand-holding wasn't possible while hugging. He needed some kind of reassurance nonetheless.

Zim listened to Dib's explanation, and he began to understand slightly why he looked scared. He didn't want a repeat of the changing room scene... Why didn't he think of that to begin with? Wow, now he felt stupid... "Then maybe 'cuddling' is off limits too?" He asked, slightly disappointed if that was so.

If that was out of bounds too, then they'd only have hand-holding left... and that'd probably turn bad too. Looking back to the human's eyes, he saw that they were slightly more sparkly than usual... was the human about to cry...? He hoped not.

Zim really didn't like seeing Dib upset like this, especially since the reason involved him... He did have one idea that... may help the human, but not the moment. But if it was a choice between the other's happiness or the moment's... 'weirdness', it was a easy decision.

Zim let out a long sigh to the side, before turning back to face the human, and moving closer to his face, until their lips met. Zim blushed greatly at this. Oh the shame of him kissing Dib under his own free will, but he just hoped that it may calm the human down if he knew he didn't mind these moments too much either.

Dib was beyond disappointed when he heard the other's suggestion. It broke his heart, just the mere thought of never cuddle or hand-holding with Zim again. He was almost about to break down and cry on the spot, but suddenly Zim's face got nearer and nearer and before he even knew what was happening... Dib felt Zim's lips on his own.

They were kissing. Zim was kissing him! That was truly the last thing he expected. His eyes shot open, so they looked like dinner plates behind his glasses for two seconds. Then, he let them lazily fall close again. Instantly, his depressed feelings just a seconds ago turned into utmost joy and exploding sparkles all over his body.

Kissing. But what Dib made him most happy was the fact that Zim started it. Zim was the one now who was willingly kissing him. He made the first move. Zim!

With a sudden burst of energy he pulled Zim into a tight embrace again. One arm draped around a slim waist while the other one stroked over Zim's neck, caressing the soft skin there. Since his mouth was busy, instead he squealed in his head. Nothing more, because proper thinking was not possible right now.

Like he was hungry, he slowly licked Zim's lips and moved his own lips, relinquish the unique taste of Zim.

Relieved that Dib didn't find the sudden approach weird, Zim was just happy to see the human happy again. He too shut his eyes a few moments after Dib had, and just concentrated on the moment and the tingly feeling where human's call their stomach.

It was basically a repeat of the changing rooms, but he could actually think at the moment, and it didn't feel so weird, since it wasn't in a public place such as the mall. Thankfully GIR was probably out of the base again, once he saw no-one was at the main level to annoy. Zim shuddered slightly at the feel of Dib's tongue on his lips and hand on his neck.

They both made a slight tickling sensation, which made the moment better in some ways. The human seemed to be able to taste something, which made Zim curious.

When Dib returned his tongue back into it's home, Zim decided to repay the human. So, copying the other's actions with his own tongue, the Irken began licking Dib's lips, hoping to get a reaction of some kind.

Breathing through his nose, which was nestled between Zim's eyes, he felt a shuddering. But it wasn't his own. It was Zim. He didn't know why, but the fact that HE caused it was making him so giddy. It felt so damn amazing. But almost in the same moment he felt Zim's ridged tongue on his wet lips, and that now made him totally excited.

He shuddered too in pure delight and he subconsciously opened his mouth a little bit and hesitantly draped it over Zim's snake-like tongue. The taste from before intensified greatly, mixed with a faintly sweet of alien Irken saliva.

It caused his hands to firmly knead Zim's neck and to grip his hip for dear life, like he was afraid to melt away any time soon.

Feeling the other's mouth around his tongue made Zim's blush increase slightly, but also caused the tingling sensation to increase. What also increased was the volume and pace of his purring... He was enjoying this moment way too much than he should, but he didn't seem to mind too much at this moment in time. He was just happy to be spending time with Dib, even if this is what it involved.

He could taste the human's saliva too, and it was every so slightly metallic with a hint of the vanilla ice-cream they had eaten earlier. Heh, maybe ice-cream had two uses? Zim couldn't help but giggle slightly at that thought, even though it was difficult to with his tongue currently out of use.


	32. Chapter 32

Still shuddering, Dib heard that purring again, such a smooth and alluring sound. He never heard it like now. He heard it before, yes. But in this moment it was so alluring, it turned him on like crazy, a simple sound and so meaningful. His whole body heated up and he felt numb, drunken. Also, he well noticed Zim's giggle. Yeah, if his mouth wouldn't be full of delicious Zim he probably would laugh and squeal out of happiness joy.

He concentrated on the purring and began to feel and taste Zim's teeth by slapping his tongue over them. They were rather sharp, so he needed to be careful, but it made the situation all the more exciting. Then his one hand snaked to Zim's throat and pressed itself to it to, feeling the vibration there.

Leaving Zim's waist, his other hand made its way to one of Zim's antennas, which were already twitching a bit and dancing around. He wanted to firmly stroke it, but on the brink he decided against it, remembering Zim's out-of-mind like state when he did that. Instead, he lifted just his index finger and brushed the length of it ever so gently, barely touching the stalk at all, but feeling it nonetheless. Its silky texture and the feathery tip. That feeling and the purring was making him feel like jelly in Zim's arms.

Noticing the other's shuddering, Zim smiled slightly into the kiss. Yeah, this had been the right idea. He squirmed slightly at the feel of Dib's tongue on his teeth, thinking that the human had given up with his licking. Apparently not. Not that he was complaining though.

A spark went down his spine at this moment. Feeling the boy's hand move to above his head, Zim opened his eyes slightly and looked up... He didn't want the human messing with his antennae, since then he wouldn't be able to think properly; but thankfully it was only a small stroke. But it still affected him, just not in the way he had expected. The Irken let out a tiny moan, before quickly stopping himself... It kind of just... slipped out.

Zim subconsciously tightened his hug around Dib and wrapped his own long, serpent tongue around the human's own squishy one before realizing he was even doing it. He didn't want this moment to stop any time soon, or to come to his right mind.

His Pak was screaming at him to stop, but he didn't want to. Not yet at least. He knew if he listened to his Pak, that'd be basically listening to the empire, since they programmed it. 'Screw the empire,' he thought before returning back to the moment and shutting his eyes once again.

Lulled by the constant purring, Dib stopped his licking for a second. Did he hear right? A moan. Just a single sound. Short and quiet, compared to the purring, but it was there. Oh how nice it sounded in that moment! And if this wasn't enough, he was now pressed all the more to Zim and felt his own tongue being owned, wrapped up by Zim's alien one.

Now he really felt its texture, using his tongue's tip. It was round and ridged like and wet earthworm; rejuvenating to the end and rather long compared to his own flat one.

Wrapping his lanky legs around Zim, so his feet touched Zim's back, he pressed himself even more to his Irken. His antenna-hand began to tremble, because it was so hard to not to play with Zim's feeler more than just a light stroking. But this time, he controlled himself and continued his light caressing.

All the while, he felt like an oven and Zim was the igniter. The purring echoed in his head and slowly began to block out his common sense he was able to hold till now.

Feeling the human move even closer to him, Zim just felt extremely happy that Dib, and himself, were enjoying this fairly weird, let wonderful, moment. This would never, ever, of happened a few days ago. Even if they got within a mile radius of each other they got annoyed. But now; now, they didn't want to leave each other's side.

How ironic that two enemies would become friends, or even do... well, this! Zim was beginning to need to take a breath, since he didn't have a nose, like Dib, to breath from. So, he backed his face up slightly and let the other's tongue go. He panted for a moment, trying to catch his breath while looking at the human's face.

He smirked at how happy he seemed to look. "Does the human like?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Zim couldn't help but tease Dib, especially at seeing that spaced out kind of look on the other's face.

When their mouths eventually disconnected, the first thing Dib needed was air. So, with still closed eyes and he took several deep breath with mouth. His tongue lolled out a bit, since it was kinda weary from the hard work just moments ago. He was red crab-red like having a sunburn. A bit sweaty too, so his scythe-lock looked like a wilted, limply plant.

After he filled his lungs enough to speak properly again, Dib opened his eyes and... was confronted with black eyes. He slightly gasped. But wait... it wasn't really black. Getting closer to Zim's face, he inspected them. It still was magenta, but so much darker than usual, it looked black from the distance. A deep ruby colour. And they were more glossy, shiny.

Almost getting lost in Zim's eyes, he quickly recovered himself and a smile formed on his face, until he was grinning from ear to ear. Yeah, he knew what the darker eyes meant... So he replied delayed and still panting a bit. "Yes!... Oh sooo very much, Zim. And... when I look at your eyes, I can tell the same... about you. They're so dark, it's fascinating even more than your normal... eye colour.", he softly said, almost whispered between small pants.

Watching Dib recover was pretty amusing to Zim. He looked like a dog who had just ran a few miles with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Zim smiled, not having enough breath to laugh. He replayed the scene that had just happened in his head whilst waiting, but didn't have to for long. But the first thing the human did was... inspect his eyes?

Zim gave the boy a slight confused look. He didn't feel like asking though. Especially when he saw the huge smile Dib was making. He listened to the boy's words and realized why he was staring at his eyes. They were a darker shade. A lot apparently. Zim's blush increased at this news. Especially since he knew that Dib knew what it meant. Oh well, he couldn't deny it that was for sure, since it was true.

He definitely wouldn't mind doing that kissing again. Even if he knew that friends didn't do it... But they weren't friends, they were special friends. The human had explained that.

Zim returned the smile to Dib before replying. "Well yeah, it was really nice." He said, but a loud purr interrupted half way through the sentence. Zim pulled an annoyed face, not to Dib, more to himself. "I still don't know-" He paused to allow a purr, "why it is banned-" Again. "On Irk in the first place." And another. Zim's annoyed expression grew and looked down at his torso. "Will you shut up!" He yelled, knowing it wouldn't help anything, but getting his point across. Since he couldn't stop the purring at his own will, he'd just have to wait till it left.

He looked back at Dib and saw his face was still bright red. Zim smiled slightly. "You look like someone's slapped you."

His legs now lay beside Zim and his hands fiddled with the pants, while he just watched Zim's eyes. A bit absently he replied "Yeah, reeeaally nice..." Dib was about to drown into these magenta orbs, when suddenly he hear a purring again, loud enough to get him back to reality. His eyes slowly fell half-lidded, enjoying the purring, interrupted by the few words coming from Zim.

It was rather funny, since it seemed that Zim wasn't able to control it, trying to speak during a pause of his new favourite sound. He understood. Obviously, all good feelings and affectionate emotions were forbidden for Zim's race. Love, lust, friendship and caring. It made Dib all the more relieved that Zim got banished. He got rid of the chains of his 'empire'. Dib was sure Zim thought the same about it. Zim was free, allowed to enjoy Dib's company.

But hearing and watching Zim's yell, he couldn't help but laugh at this. It was too hilarious! But then, it reminded Dib of himself, trying to shut up his brain when it's telling to stop kissing and cuddling with Zim. Silently listening some seconds to the purring, he answered.

"Heh. Well, I can tell, since your tongue kinda slapped mine. A-And I feel like coming out of an oven, like a baked Dib, slowly cooling down. It's your fault... you with all your purring," he pouted jokingly. "But d-don't try to stop it, Zim." He softly whispered and lifted one hand to the Irken's cheek, rubbing it gently with his thumb. "It's such a nice sound. Actually, the best thing I've ever heard. I-I really like it. I really like you..."

While speaking, a slight taste reminded him of before. Dib curiously licked his lips and smacked them. "Hmm, still tastes like Zim," he said more to himself still with that dreamy look on his face, smiling like a fool. A happy fool. Then, he leaned forward to Zim's face again, until his nose was nestled between the other's dark eyes. Dib rubbed it a bit there, before licking two, three times Zims lips with the very tip of his tongue with closed eyes. Leaning back, he opened them and said "Yummy."

Zim snapped his gaze to the laughing human, before glaring slightly; he wasn't mad, only slightly embarrassed. But his embarrassed mood only grew when Dib continued to speak. His glare soon turned into a soft stare as he listened to the boy. He didn't fully understand the term 'really like'. Of course you'd have to 'really like' someone to be special friends. So, why need to explain it? Zim just shrugged it off and thought of it more as a compliment than explanation.

But that dreamy look and few words soon brought back his embarrassed mood. He could feel his purring begin to fade, but that soon changed when Dib came closer and repeated the 'lip-licking'. Zim felt the spark go down his spine again, and would have enjoyed it if he didn't want his purring to go. As soon as the human backed up again, Zim licked his own lips to get Dib's taste back without going through the whole kissing thing again.

"No more, Dib-friend! Zim's trying to get his purring to stop. Not get louder!" He explained, smiling slightly; thinking the action was pretty sweet of the human. He did want to repeat the scene which happened moments ago, but just not to admit that. He still had some dignity left.

Smiling like never before, Dib didn't intend to stop any time soon. Just a little teasing, nothing bad. "Oh really... well, that's the reaction I wanna trigger. Your purring makes you all the more amazing, Zimmy."

Dib felt so alive and happy, since they kissed. May it be his drugged-with-hormones mind, but the scene from before opened a door, which Dib didn't even know exists. But right now, he just wanted to hear Zim's purring again. So he trapped Zim with his legs and tightly hugged him again.

His curious hands wandered from Zim's back his sides and down to the hem of his shirt. Then, a bit hesitantly, he slipped his shaking hands under it and grazed his fingertips up and down the soft skin there. He watched Zim's face closely with an eager grin.

Seeing that smile form on the other's face, Zim immediately regretted saying that out loud. He felt his insides do a backflip at the words and look Dib was using. Admittedly, Zim did like moments like this between of the two of them, which was odd in some ways, but oh well. But, he did not like the way his body responded. With the antennae touching, and purring and such; it was just plain embarrassing.

He went to backup slightly, but found he couldn't, since Dib's legs were blocking his escape. And soon they were hugging again. Zim returned the hug, thinking it'd just return to a normal moment again. Nope. He tensed when he felt Dib's hands on his skin, but quickly relaxed again after he felt yet another spark go down his back. 'Well, this isn't too bad,' he thought, smiling slightly, looking into the human's eyes. The sight of them caused him to smile even more.

"Heh. I knew you would like it. And you can't squirm away, you're trapped." The other's smile made him so dizzy... He gave Zim a quick peck on the lips. "You're-" Another one. "so-" Again. "Addicting."

The fourth peck lasted a bit longer along with a swift lick of his tongue. "I-I can't help myself..." This time, Dib wasn't so ashamed like normally. He let it drift and just hoped Zim won't find it too weird when he now massaged Zim's sides more firmly and leaned forward to lightly bite into that tempting green neck along while grinding their hips together. The friction made him shudder even more and he heavily panted against Zim's skin after a few bites.

With every moment their lips were connected, Zim grew more and more light headed. How did this moment come to being anyhow? Last he remembered which wasn't to do with 'cuddling', was the zombie video game... But before he could think about it in detail, Zim felt a pressure on his neck, before realizing it was Dib's teeth.

He could feel his body heating up, especially when their hips met. The Irken shut his eyes, before clinging uselessly to the human's shirt and burying his face into it too; trying to fight back a moan. His purring was nearly completely shaking him now, and pounded in his head. Another reason he didn't like it.

Zim's face was now on fire, and it didn't help how Dib was breathing against his neck like that... It all felt amazing, like nothing he'd experienced before. His spine felt like there was an electrical current attached to it, which kept zapping him from time to time.

The purring was soo loud now, it aroused Dib in a totally weird way. It would have really scared him, if his proper thinking wouldn't be on brief vacation. Moreover, Zim was vibrating and sounding like a sports car's engine. It turned him into jelly.

His lips tingled from the biting and kissing. Maybe now he got the idea of how Zim was feeling when Dib messed with his antennas, let alone sucking them. Feeling a sudden warmth spreading spreading down his loins, he ignored it and instead whimpered into a limp, twitching feeler.

"...Zim... Y-You make me... f-feel so... so d-different. It's so... intense. W-What is this?..." His voice shook more with every word. He knew Zim couldn't give him the answer, but he needed to say something to keep his mind from drifting away completely, where it was unreachable for the time being. Dib sneaked one hand up to Zim's head and stroked it, carefully trying not to touch any antennas. For now...

The Irken felt so relaxed in that moment, that he almost missed Dib's questions. But luckily, he heard it. Well, who couldn't if they said it right to you? Zim moved so that his face wasn't in the human's shirt anymore, but instead looking at Dib's face.

He noted the redness on his face, and the sparkle in those amazing eyes. Zim could also see that he didn't have a 'Dib expression' at the moment, it was a face he hadn't seen the human wear before. It was different, but nice to see. "I d-don't know... I-Is that bad?" He asked, noticing the shaky voice the other had. But, it was a sort of relief to know that he wasn't the only one feeling 'different'.

It made him feel like it was maybe normal to feel like this in these moments. One thing was for sure though, it was a good different to him, but made him slightly confused. Mates, Friends, Special Friends... They were all becoming jumbled up to him. And he didn't know if that was good... or bad.

After Zim left his shirt and looked unsure up to Dib's red face, he let both of his hands fall to his lap. Just for a few seconds though, because Dib felt kinda cold without physical contact in his current state, despite being so hot. So he gently grabbed Zim's hands and intertwined their fingers. Yeah, much better. The hand-holding was like an anchor to keep him focused and also a transmitter for his emotions by squeezing and rubbing the three-fingered hands. It just feels so right to do this.

Dib thought about it and tried to stop his shaking, deep breathing. It certainly wasn't a bad feeling. No way! But it was so new and unexpected... Well, he didn't know what he'd expected. Of course it began when they first cuddled, but when he kissed Zim and vice versa just minutes ago... This feeling -tingling, knotting belly and aching heart- reached a whole new level.

During their long and wonderful kiss it fuelled his desire, so he had simply enjoyed it. Enjoyed Zim. But just now... when he hugged his Irken friend, massaging and biting, the 'feeling' had rushed over his whole body, almost afraid to get unconscious! Still, he heard his blood rushing in his ears and the mighty thump-thump of his crazy heart. But that all makes it all the more exciting and...arousing.

While he sat there, it didn't help he was still listening to Zim's purring, which was slowly getting quieter, but being present nonetheless. It made Dib giddy and he liked it. His expression didn't change at all when he looked up at Zim, happily watching the deep, dark magenta of the Irken's eyes, shining slightly in the dim light from the ceiling. After ten seconds or so, Dib finally said something, calmed down a bit and rubbing Zim's hands.

"No... it don't feel bad in any way. H-Honestly, it's the best feeling I can ever imagine. Like I-I'm on fire. So foreign and new, but still...it feels like something I've missed m-my whole life. Heh. Who guessed, y-you would be the one creating that feeling..." His voice was soft and determined. The hand-holding helped greatly. "Did I tell you how amazing you are, Z-Zim?"

Looking down at their intertwined hands, Zim's slight worried mood left, and squeezed Dib's hands back as if to say that he was happy with the hand-holding. Which he was. It was a nice way to reassure and show care without things getting overly weird. Which was probably needed in this moment; but it wasn't weird, just new. To both of them.

Zim knew that he himself hadn't experienced anything like this with any life-form, and guessed the human hadn't either... Since no-one seemed to care much for him at Skool... Which was quite sad in a way, but good in another... Sad because Dib was actually interesting and intelligent once you knew him, a lot more than most humans, that's for sure; but good since now he had no 'competition' for his time or attention.

Zim got jealous easily, he knew that; even if he'd never admit it. Especially to Dib... That'd be plain embarrassing... Thinking about it though... He thought that this moment would be embarrassing. But it wasn't. Not really. It was, as he'd said many times now, nice. Beyond nice in fact! These moments made it feel like no-one or anything else mattered. Just them two in that moment... Even though it confused Zim beyond belief, it was worth it to see the human happy.

He cared a lot more than he showed, which he wasn't going to change. He still had his ego to build back up after all. Since so many moments from the past few days had smashed it so it was hardly recognizable. That is if it was something physical. And seeing his moment for his 'ego re-building', he spoke. "I think you have, but I've forgotten. Remind Zim," he teased, smirking slightly.

Wanting to make it clear for Zim, Dib tried to find the right words, but somehow got the feeling that too much words weren't necessary. Otherwise, Zim said he liked the boy's talking. And giving the other compliments was a surprisingly easy task for Dib at the moment.

"Well, I'll always gladly remind you of that fact, Zim." Briefly, Dib looked up and added. "Hmm...Great Irken friend fits nicely, since you helped me when everyone else was ignoring like usual back at the Skool." Despite being injured, it was a lovely, good memory. Zim kneeling down to his beaten up self, noticeable concerned.

It felt so far away, but in fact that incident took place no entire two days ago. Before Dib continued, he lifted Zim's right hand to his red face and gently pressed it against his cheek, successfully cooling him down a bit. "T-Then your hands. Two very nice and... overly soft hands, which could easily cut through skin, if used right... pretty scary actually. Real weapons. But mostly... an unique way of reassuring me."

Mentioning the sensitive nature of Zim's antennas would maybe turn out too weird for now, so Dib dropped that part. "B-But what fascinates me the most, are your superior eyes, Zim. I need to stop looking at them for too long or I will get lost in this sea of ruby, daaaark ruby..." Oh boy. He already got a dreamy look again.

"My newest discovery though is your very flexible and long tongue, Zim. I-it's ridged... like a worm and it... yeah, it snaked around in my mouth t-that... I got..." He stuttered and fidgeted with Zim's left hand, before suddenly grabbed Zim's neck and pressed their mouths together.

A strange urge was telling him to feel, to taste that alien tongue again. So Dib gently licked Zim's lips first and grazed his fingers over the green neck. Dib pulled back and said between pants. "S-Sorry, Zim, but you're... i-irresistible. T-This whole moment makes you so... tempting. You're my amazing, smart, caring Zim." Dib grinned at him and licked his lips, tasting his Irken friend there.

All those compliments brought back quite a few memories of the past 2 days for Zim. The Torque scene, the first hand-holding moment, the conversation on eyes, and the moment from moments ago. All good memories, well exact for the scene where Dib got injured, but the rest, yeah. Whilst listening to Dib speak, Zim thought of the good things about the human too. He felt like he should compliment the boy later too.

Like, his hair. Yeah, Dib's hair was a lot better than any other human. Like a single antenna, which was ironic in a way. Him always yelling about 'Antenna = Alien'. Yet, it looked like he had one himself.

Dib's eyes were another. A golden colour with hints of brown were incredible, and rare too he guessed; since he'd never seen any other human with eyes like that. They looked rather small behind his glasses, but when the human took them off, you could see the colour and shape of his eyes perfectly. And they were amazing.

Another was his ears and nose... Definitely not rare, but interesting. Little satellites of the sides of every human's head, and two holes in the middle of their faces too... Ugly on most humans, but rather fitting on Dib. And his smile and laugh were nice too... Especially when he knew he caused it. When anyone else did, like that female Beth, it just annoyed him to no end.

But before he could think of anymore, he felt Dib's hands around his neck, and soon their lips met for a few moments. It was a mini version of earlier, which caused his purr to return and insides to twist; but in a good way. Once that was over, Zim listened to the rest of Dib's speech, before doing the widest smile he'd done in a long time.

He knew that the human cared before, yes. But, hearing all that made his believe it ten times more than he did before. He instantly lunged forward and hugged the human tightly, which caused them to topple over. Zim didn't care. He just wanted to hug Dib, no matter how ego-destroying it was. "And you're my Dib-friend," he replied, tightening his hug. "Irken property," he clarified, nodding slightly.

Right after his words, Dib was afraid that he maybe over-egged the pudding, overdosed things. Fortunately, this state lasted only for a second, because he soon saw that huuuge smile on Zim. Dib gasped at the sight. It was actually the first time, he saw the other's rather sharp-looking, white teeth. Like a human's ones, but rounded at the end and therefore surely pretty dangerous if well used.

Dib was stunned; did HE make Zim smile like that? Of course, duh, but still... It warmed his heart, knowing he indeed did cause it. Anyhow, there wasn't the time cheering about it, because another two seconds or so, Zim suddenly sprung forward and threw Dib on his back on the sheets, letting out a small surprised yelp. But no... it wasn't another tickle attack, but a hug. And what a hug. Like he thought before, tight was good and this one was the tightest. 'Wow, Zim can be strong when happy', Dib thought and quickly repayed his friend by wrapping his arms around the other's slim waist.

When he heard the Irken's few words following, Dib believed to understand the term of having 'butterflies in your stomach'. Feeling 'different' was one thing, but now he felt like his body was burning from the inside out. A wonderful and dominate aching, squeezing and knotting, which made him so dizzy. And all that 'just' from a hug and a few words. But they were so... sincere and affectionate, it was indescribable.

Right underneath that PAK-thingy, he began massaging Zim's back in small circles with the bare fingertips. It felt too natural to do this, to be questioned. Like this whole friendship in general, which was turning into, no... already was the most exciting and right-feeling thing Dib did or could dream of. Also, he wanted to reward Zim in the best way possible for being so... amazing!

Dib wouldn't say it out loud... yet, but Zim was so sweet, so adorable. He gladly belonged to Zim, even as 'Irken property'. Zim was all that mattered to him now. NO-ONE ELSE. Before he was aware of it, small tears of joy were already streaming down his cheeks; Dib just couldn't help himself. He was way too touched by Zim's actions. He intertwined their legs, so his bare feet touched Zim's boots and let this whole scene sink in for some moments. He took a deep breath and fondly smiled up at his Irken friend.

"... Zim... I-I'm so happy... You're my best friend, very special one a-and I belong to you... only you, remember that. I-I feel so lucky to be your friend too. This t-tingling feeling... is eating me away...and it feels soooo good, so please don't stop hugging me, Zim. I-I really, really like you... you have no idea." It was quite hard to find the right words with an equal ponderosity, so Dib just listened to his heart (or rather his emotional 'other side'). "... T-Thank you, Zim..." He said and looked him directly into the red eyes to make his words clear.

Zim had worried that maybe the hug was a bit extreme, but then again, he needed some way to show his happiness. But when he heard Dib's words, he looked towards his face, and saw tears... Zim's eyes widened slightly in confusion. But, he had just said that he was happy. So, why was he crying? There was a smile on the human's face also though... Did humans cry when happy too? How odd and annoyingly confusing. 'Human emotions,' Zim thought, shrugging it off.

There was no way he was intending to stop hugging Dib anyway, he was too happy to let go. It felt like if he didn't have a way to let off some of his good mood, he'd just... explode! This was probably the first time he'd felt this happy. And it was great! Plus, it was a good reason to be happy. So that made it all the better! Better than having to kill him and all his race... like the Tallest wanted... This thought brought some anger into Zim's happy mood too.

The Irken continued to stare down at Dib, smile still there but lessened. The Tallest had wanted him dead... Dead. "Dead..." Zim slightly mumbled.

All the memories of trying to kill Dib flashed through his head at once. The mini ship to destroy his brain. The plan to flood the city by a massive water balloon. Crush him with a planet. Trying to destroy him by sending rubber pigs back in time. A room with a nut eating moose. Massive rampaging hamster. Turning him into baloney. Leaving him in a nightmare dimension. Massive robot. Brain-eating squids. Send him to the Massive. And more...

Every thought made his smile fade until it was gone... Any one of those could have worked, and Dib wouldn't be here right now... He'd be 6ft under the ground... Or maybe not even that. Maybe a slave to the Tallest...

Zim put his head down onto the human's chest and listened to his heart beat. That sound could maybe have stopped long ago, never to beat again. The Irken's hands tightened around Dib's back, almost afraid he'd disappear now.

He never felt guilt like this before, but nor relief. He was just relieved that none of his plans had worked the way they were meant to. "You're welcome, human" Zim replied, smiling slightly. One thing was for sure; Dib was here to stay. Zim's smile widened until it was back like it was earlier.

Their stared at each other, so it looked like a smiling-competition. During that, Zim's last two words echoed in Dib's head. 'Irken property'. Now that he thought about it, he kind of liked it. It was oddly reassuring and... exciting. Yeah, Dib belongs to Zim. Only.

Along with the tight hug Zim was giving him, Dib got only more fond of his Irken, liking this possessive side of him. Also, Dib noticed Zim's smooth purring just now, in that calm, silent moment. But sadly, he was barely able to enjoy it, the sound slowly lessened and faded away. Gone. Along with his formerly huge smile.

The boy's fingers stopped its work. Frowning slightly, Dib was about to ask what was wrong after a few seconds, but before he said something, Zim placed his bald, green head on his chest. It looked like... yeah. Zim was probably listening to his quite fast heartbeat, since his antennas were ever so slightly twitching. Maybe, Zim was tired too. 'Quite eventful day... Heh.' He thought and chuckled at all the different memories, on a single day! Also, he sensed, that the other was a bit tense. He just needed to ask, not seeing Zim's smile was already back.

"Zim? I-Is everything alright? How are you f-feeling?" Sometimes, Dib was surprised how much he actually cared about Zim. More than to himself or any other person. But thinking about it, was always worth a small smile. He DID care, sooo much and it was right so. Being sure this would help a lot, Dib sneaked his hand under Zim's shirt and carefully massaged Zim's slightly cooler sides with his slender fingers.


	33. Chapter 33

**Enjoy the longest chapter by now :D**

Now seeing that his plans failing wasn't such a bad thing, any mild anger Zim had towards the human for ruining them, soon left. He was just happy that Dib was smart enough to actually stop his plans for conquest... or maybe his plans just weren't good enough? Probably not.

All the while, the Irken continued to listen to the continuous thumping of the other's heart. It definitely was a nice and relaxing sound, even though it was quite fast. It sounded like a drum... but in the distance. That one organ... was keeping the entire human alive. This minute even. That thought scared Zim slightly. What if one day, it got tired and just... stopped? No... That wouldn't happen. And anyone that tried to do that to Dib, like Torque had done, would be destroyed before they even got within a mile of the human.

But still...

Zim shut his eyes, and just focused on Dib's faint scent. It was so familiar and comforting. Hearing the other's question, Zim noticed the concern in the human's voice. Oh, he had picked up on his mood earlier.

"Dib-human... Will your heart organ ever stop beating?" He asked. He knew he'd just answered a question with a question. But he just hoped that Dib would understand. If that one particular organ did ever stop... that would mean...

Zim squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

He didn't even want to think what that would mean. But he soon relaxed again when he felt Dib's hands under his shirt. Zim sighed to himself at how depressive he was thinking. He just couldn't help it.

Hearing this question stopped his hands for a moment. Well, that was a very serious one. And the tone the other was using made it so hard to answer it truthfully. Zim sounded so worried, even scared of hearing the answer. Watching the slight twitching antennas on his chest, Dib sighed.

Obviously Zim was listening to his heart. Which now beat even faster. But... he had to answer it. Dib couldn't lie to Zim, especially about such a matter. Suddenly he felt a sinking feeling in the pits of his stomach. This time it was rather unpleasant. 'Why is Zim asking this? Don't he know, all humans have to die someday?' Apparently, Zim missed to get information on this topic. So he tried not to sound too casual, since it was an important thing.

Dib continued his caressing, increasing the action radius of his hands by stroking his flat hands over Zim's back too. It was also helping him to find the right words and staying calm. Looking to the opposite side where the Irken was looking, he said rather quiet, since Zim's feelers were so near his mouth. "W-Well, since I am human, I got only a confined lifespan, l-like every other living thing, at least here on Earth. From all I-I know, humans normally around 80 or 90 years. Earth years. If they stay healthy and got no diseases or are dying by an accident. Still, it's quite rare that a human gets older than 100 years..."

It wasn't until now, that Dib remembered Zim's own age. 162 Earth years. 16 Irken ones. So, 100 years as the maximum must be a short period for him. When he spoke again, this time Dib's voice as barely above a whisper, stuttering a bit. "S-So to answer your question... Y-Yes... m-my heart will eventually stop beating... a-and I don't know when..." Dib began to tremble really bad now.

Of course he knew this friendship wouldn't last forever, no matter how much he wished it. But thinking so direct about it now made him so sad and depressed, sharing Zim's current mood. He desperately slung his arms around his Irken and held him in place. His formerly tears of joy already dried, vanished completely. Sealing his own eyes tightly shut, when he began to feel a slight wetness invading them, he said with a really shaking voice. "Oh, Zim... D-Don't think about that stuff, please! Just let us enjoy... e-each other's company. Our... f-friendship just has just begun... a-and there's so much we can do. For years and years. S-So please d-don't make you, make me... s-so sad by thinking about it."

His heart raced now, when he imagined Zim, standing before his grave or worse, an open coffin... (If he ever got such an treatment after his own death anyway). He felt so stupid thinking it in this moment. It hurt so much. What happened? They were so happy just moments ago, kissing and hugging... well, they both still were, but more of being scared the other would go, disappear forever.

That answer was probably the worst news Zim had ever heard... Even worse than being banished if he was honest. At least when he was banished he knew he'd still have a friend. Someone to talk to and rely on. But this... This was worse...

He tried to imagine a world with no Dib. In the past, that was his dream. But now it was more like a nightmare of no returning to the real world... An empty seat at Skool. Someone else living in the Membrane household. No 'big-headed kid'. 100 years was lucky for humans... And 80 and 90 were normal... So... 85 years in average then. That meant that'd he'd already lived through an entire Earth generation? Maybe two even... It felt weird to know that fact.

"Some species in the galaxy only live for 30 of your Earth seconds... Some never die until murdered. So, on a lifespan line... you humans would be near the lower end..." Zim said, thinking out-loud; but also wanting to give the human some information. It wasn't good information though...

Why was he thinking so depressive lately? He hated it! Thinking destructively and of enemies' deaths was one thing... But thinking morbid and of a friend's death was just plain annoying and depressing.

Noticing Dib's shaky voice and mood just made him feel worse. He shouldn't have asked that anyway. If he didn't know, then everything would be fine. Zim could feel his eyes begin to tear up, so opened them and stared at the wall without blinking to try and dry them. There we loads of cracks and marks on the walls, so decided to take his mind of things by making pictures from them. But each picture was worse than the next. Coffin... Cross... That Earth grim reaper-person. Zim let out a groan of annoyance at this.

Suddenly he got an idea. It wasn't going to become reality, probably, but it cheered him up to think that it may be a possibility. "Zim will create a machine which gives you the lifespan of an Irken then! I will not allow the Dib to die..." He said through gritted teeth. It may not even be possible to do... but just the thought cheered him up slightly. Zim sighed, then looked towards the human's face. His eyes were shut also. "I apologize for making this moment depressing..." He mumbled, fiddling with Dib's shirt. He mentally decided not to speak about this type of subject again... unless it was needed of course.

30 seconds... Would it be even enough time to reproduce? Probably, or they wouldn't exist to begin with. However, the more interesting thing were the never dying lifeforms. Dib always imagined aliens out there who don't know the meaning of 'death'. Maybe entities of pure energy, immortal and divine... just like these Meekrob things he met in his bedroom- wait! Yeah, it wasn't real, but a false reality made by Zim as a revenge for throwing a muffin a his head.

Regarding what Zim said though, it wasn't just a fantasy. There were beings like them in other galaxies... far away but still there. Thinking abut space and all its possible forms of life dissipated Dib's depressing thoughts, so he calmed down quite a bit. But the best thing was Zim. Dib got his own Irken friend, lying on top of him... a real alien. But if Zim would be human, staying the same Zim still, Dib couldn't be less happy then now. But because Zim was an alien from his view, a different species, made Dib feel more... special. Which other human can say that his best friend was an alien? Probably no-one.

Kinda sad that Dib seems to not really get along with people of his own species. There have to appear an Irken invader, becoming his friend in the end...

After a while, Zim spoke again. About a machine giving him a longer lifespan? His eyes widened slightly at that thought. "Y-You... could build a machine which...-" How it would be to live several hundred years? Indescribable. Would he look the same as now? Maybe, since Zim didn't look nearly as old as he was. Otherwise, Dib didn't know how Zim looked at a younger age. But there was no doubt for him, that it was theoretically possible to build such a thing, especially for someone like Zim. A member of a high technological race, despite being banished... His train of thoughts was interrupted by a sudden yawn. Hmm, now he felt tired, emotionally mostly. It was a good feeling, Zim tightly pressed against his body, just being with him. "Don't apologize, Zim," he said softly. "Ya' know, from another side, i-it shows me how much you actually... care about me. I would say, I found the next amazing trait about you. But for now, let us just lay here for a while, 'kay?"

Dib shifted around and brought the entire Zim nearer to his face, so it was easier to reach it, since his head laid on the pillows. Then he grabbed Zim's head and lifted his gaze, looking at the other's eyes. They were now bright red again, compared to the mere dark tone from before. He wanted to see that again so badly; so, changing the subject was needed. The boy grinned briefly, leaned forward and swiftly licked Zim's cheek affectionately. "Be happy again, Zim... l-like before when we..." He whispered and left the sentence unfinished, continuing to lick the tasty green skin.

As he heard Dib's last few sentences, Zim stopped his fiddling and looked towards the human's face again. The soft tone that he used was calming in the moment. Dib had seemed to cheer up as well, which was good news. Too bad that it was his fault that he put the depressing moment between the two of them in the first place.

No! He wasn't going to think down that road again! He was just going to enjoy a nice, happy moment with his friend! Only one thing was bad, he wasn't sure if he COULD make a machine like that... Well, he'd just have to try! And if it did work... Zim smiled slight to himself. If it did work, then they'd age at the same time! Not 10 years to his 1 year.

But this thoughts got interrupted when he felt himself being moved. He was now closer to Dib's head. And the grin that followed soon after made Zim's insides do another backflip. Seeing the human lean towards him only increased that feeling. And his face felt like it was on fire when his cheek received a lick... He gasped slightly; not expecting that in that type of moment. It seemed like Dib really liked his skin in these moments. That weird, yet funny, thought made the Irken giggle slightly. As if to repay the human, he wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tight.

There, this was much better! Now Zim didn't cling desperately to him, fearing to lose Dib or something, but it was another type of hug. It maybe sounds weird, but he just felt it the difference in Zim's posture. Not so tense anymore, more relaxed. Made by a few little licks.

Being so wrapped up by Zim and his arms, he remembered the others words earlier. "Heh. Yeah, Irken property," he thought out loud and chuckled. It was strangely comforting and such an affectionate thing to say, coming from Zim. "Sounds good..." he mumbled, grabbed two green cheeks and kissed Zim more gentle this time. Forgetting the sad moment almost completely, he curled his toes and squirmed around on the spot, intentionally grinding their hips together, wanting to make more friction.

Zim was slightly surprised to hear a repeat of his earlier words. Especially the human agreeing with it. Zim had honestly thought that Dib may have found it slightly weird or insulting being classified as 'property', but was glad to hear that he thought of it in a positive way.

He hadn't meant for it to be thought of negativity anyway, he was just used to one day saying that to him... Maybe in the past he'd thought about it in the situation where Dib was a slave to the Tallest, but no! This was way better, and the Tallest didn't deserve Dib! No way!

Suddenly he felt two hands on each side of his face, and soon their lips met again. Zim's eyes widened slightly, before going half-lidded. Yeah, this was a lot better than the moment before... Talking about death and such. Only one thing confused the Irken though. And that was Dib squirming around... Surely he wasn't uncomfortable... But it was making a bit of friction between them... Maybe that's what the human wanted? Zim shrugged it off, and kissed the human back. No matter how much his ego plummeted, he liked these moments; and wasn't going to ruin it.

The whole Dib was warming up again, fuelled by the literally sweet kiss and intertwined legs, by the thought of belonging to only Zim. His Zim. It was unique. Being friends also meant sharing bad or depressing moments, like back when Dib successfully comforted Zim right after the banishment news. Sometimes, you have to talk about quite meaningful stuff, positive and negative one. It made him feeling all the more connected with his Irken. Like true special friends. Oh so very special they were.

His tongue explored Zim's moist cavern, drinking all the taste. Still so foreign, yet so familiar. Overwhelming. A sudden rush of... something made its way through Dib. One of his hands wandered to the Irken's neck, caressing it, while the other one slowly throdded on its fingertips up to an antenna, as if the hand knew how 'forbidden' it was.

Dib grinned into the kiss and took hold of the feeler for some seconds, before began to stroke it along the entire length. A small moan escaped him, he blushed greatly and quickly tried to cover it by pressing his pink lips more to Zim's ones.

Feeling one of Dib's hands move, almost teasingly, slowly up towards the top of his head; Zim knew what the human was about to do. And it almost classified it when he felt the other grin. He wouldn't mind it so much if his head didn't turn to mush though. But unfortunately, it did.

As soon as he felt the hand on one of his antenna, basically all logical or smart thoughts were thrown out the window, and replaced with sparks which travelled from his antenna and down his back. It was odd though, because one minute he felt warm, then the next cold. But somehow still staying warm all the while... If that even made any sense. Probably not. But then again, Zim couldn't think straight anyway, not with his antenna being messed with.

But, his brain wasn't so clouded over to hear Dib's light moan and see the blush that formed soon after. After this sight, Zim shut his eyes and wrapped his own tongue around Dib's one like he had earlier; knowing the human had enjoyed it.

The snake invaded human oral territory again and trapped its habitant, but not without a fight. A wet and playful one. Dib stopped the upper hand and used the nail of his thumb instead, to lightly graze it up and down the silky surface just a few millimetres. The feeler twitched wildly around now, so he added two additional fingers to hold it in place, while his thumb continued.

He wanted to make Zim purr again so badly. It was a unexpected, sudden urge, so he lightly bit on Zim's tongue and tried to get the 'upper hand' by wriggling his own one out of the snake's grasp, although it was a hard task, since it was a rather long snake.

Noticing the resistance from Dib's tongue, Zim immediately thought of it as a mini battle. A battle for dominance. He found it kind of funny though, since that was basically what they were like normally. Always teasing the other; even if it was only friendly. Now at least.

Just a few weeks ago it'd be to annoy the other. To see who was 'superior'. But now it wasn't. Which was good. But the battle didn't last long, since as soon as Zim felt the nail on his antenna, his head felt like it had just been shot with tranquillizer; and all movements turned clumsy. He could also feel a purr begin to form and make its way into his throat, but he tried to force it back. It worked, for now at least. He knew that Dib liked the sound of it, but wasn't going to allow it. Not yet anyway.

That stroking hand obviously slowed Zim down in his actions. Dib took it as a good sign, so he let his hand made longer wandering up and down the feeler, from the base to the tip, where his fingers rested for a moment, rubbed and pinched the kinda flaky tip, before going back towards the head.

Dib saw his chance and quickly wrapped his own tongue now around Zim's one and sucked a bit on it, trying to get more taste with it. Yummy. The intense flavour of Irken saliva was fuelling Dib's... well, his desire even more. He didn't know why, but everything about his friend made him so needy in that moment wanting and greedy. For what? He was scared to even think about it, not that would stop him to still find out.

It was rather weird, getting so touchy after the 'death-talk' before. But Zim said some things which showed how much Dib means to him. The Irken was really scared for his life. It made the boy feel wanted and so welcome. For the first time in his life, he felt that way. Someone needed him and vice versa.

Zim.

His Irken.

His special friend.

Since Zim was already so... relaxed, Dib decided to take off his glasses with his other hand, knowing Zim liked his eyes, even called them 'amazing'. He did so, blinked a few times and pressed the hand to Zim's cheek, his thumb rubbing right under Zims eye. After relinquishing Zim's lips and tongue, he parted their lips, giving a short break, which wasn't really easy for the boy. Also, the second hand was now nestled into Zim's neck. Opening his eyes, he looked up to the Irken on top of him.

At hearing the noise of metal clinking together, Zim opened his eyes slightly and looked down at Dib's face and saw that he was taking his glasses off. Immediately he just stared at the other's eyes; enjoying the sight. It was really nice to see such a calm and happy side to them. Way better than when they used to fight and all he used to see was a glare or smirk. Well, admittedly he did that also.

But now he could enjoy the view, and the mix between a golden yellow and light brown. He'd always found the black part of the human's eyes, the 'pupil' as the humans call it, kind of creepy. How they all had a hole right through their eyes. And how that's what they see from... And the main white layer around the colourful circle... Never did he know what that was for, but constantly wondered why their eyes weren't coloured...

Ugh, he was over thinking things again.

Once their lips had parted, the first thing Zim did was take a deep breath in, sometimes he really did wish he had another means of breathing other than his mouth; and continued to stare at Dib. He noticed he was staring back. Now quite light headed, the Irken rested his head on Dib's chest again, and started messing around with his hair. He still wondered how it stayed up like it did, but then if it didn't, Dib wouldn't be Dib, would he?

Zim smiled at the human before speaking. "No touchy," he ordered, before pointing to his antennae with his free hand. "It's unfair o-otherwise," he added, referring to the tongue battle they had moments ago.

Letting Zim have a good look at his eyes, Dib inspected Zim's mustering own ones, until Zim's head was on his chest, probably listening again. Dib concentrated on Zim's fingers combing through his ebony hair. Hearing the last two words from the other, made it clear for the boy. Wasn't really fair of him to catch Zim off-guard like that. It wasn't easy to not argue with himself about that.

"S-Sorry..." he eventually mumbled and brought and hand before his nose. "Bad fingers, why won't you obey your owner?" They wriggled around and stretched, like being hungry for more antennae, although green skin would have to be enough for now. "It won't happen again, Z-Zim! I was about to lose," he said and pointed to his mouth. "A-And suddenly... I was fondling with your antenna, which worked nicely. But that doesn't mean I'll give up trying to get the upper hand... although you're lying on top of me." Dib assured, referring to the tongue-fight.

Well, their past fights weren't really comparable to... this! "A-And it's rather nice to see your look when you're watching my eyes," he meekly added. He let his head sink down into the pillows and stared at the ceiling, rubbing Zim's neck and the back of his head up and down with two hands.

Watching Dib tell off his own fingers was pretty amusing and strangely like him. "Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that Dib-friend. Zim will win over all," he teased, making a slight smirk. It sounded almost like a competition when they both put it that way. A competition for the 'upper hand'. But then again, that was probably expected. They both still had their competitive sides. That was proven in that video game and the moment just now. And that probably wasn't going to change.

Zim changed his gaze so that he was again looking at Dib; who was currently staring at the ceiling. He hadn't really noticed before... but the human looked... nice. For a human at least... he was quite good looking-

No!

Zim shook his head slightly. He was NOT just thinking that... Was he? Obviously he was.

Ugh... this moment was getting into his head. Way more than he wished it to. But the way he was just lying there... almost innocently, made his insides squeeze again. Zim sighed. 'Stupid human...' he thought.

Looking to the side of Dib, he saw his glasses next to him. The Irken reached over and picked them up. He put them in front of him, on the human's chest, and inspected them. He still found them interesting, even after the explanation.

Dib didn't really notice Zim's gaze, but still knew that he was being watched, especially without his glasses on. Yay. It was rather exciting for him, knowing he looked at least... interesting in someone's eyes.

Smirking at Zim's tease, which was pleasantly typical for the Irken, he already tried to think on a way to affect Zim strongly enough to bring him the victory in the forthcoming 'battle of tongues'. Without fondling with any antennas. A weird scenario, but Dib didn't care, wanting to show Zim, he was still worthy opponent, although it weren't real threatening or even real combat scenes.

The content changed completely, but not really the meaning. How would it look, if he lost in video games AND... making-out. After some more seconds of staring at the ceiling, he decided to feed his curiosity to intensify the feelings for both of them... by taking off his shirt. They already cuddled topless before and the memories made the boy's smile grew even more and a content sigh soon followed when his mind reached the part when Zim licked at his nipple. His face (finally) flared up again, so he used his elbows to get up a bit.

"Let me... t-take off my shirt first, then-". He stopped at seeing Zim curiously fiddling with his glasses. It was funny how interested the other seemed, since he told Dib about his perfect vision of that Irken red orbs... But before he drifted off too much, he shook his head and focused on the task at hand.

"I will show you who's got the superior tongue, Zimmy." Well, now that sounded strange. "So gimme my glasses-" Snatch. "- and face me. Heh. I-If you win, you can have them as long as you want." He teasingly grinned at the Irken and reached for the hem of his shirt, beginning to squirm around to get the thing off.

When Zim felt Dib lift himself up, he removed himself from the human so he was now sitting in front of him. Listening to the other speak, he was slightly confused by it all. Win what exactly? He didn't know... But it sounded like a challenge, and if it meant beating Dib at something else, he was definitely going to do it. And win hopefully.

It all depended on what the human meant though... He wished that he would explain things properly sometimes... But he couldn't over think this time, since the object in his hands he had been inspecting was rudely snatched away. "Hey!" He yelled, before crossing his arms in a bit of a sulk.

But that didn't last long either, since when he saw Dib removing his shirt, he watched quite closely... Which was pretty creepy when he thought about it. He instantly got drawn to the hole in the middle of his stomach. ...Still looked like he'd got shot if you asked him... "So how do I beat you anyway?" Zim asked, returning his gaze to Dib's face with a confused glare.

With the shirt in his lap, Dib froze at the question. "H-How do you...-" Hmm, good question actually. Welcome to the Dib, bringing up such a weird contest and without really thinking about the rules before. Stupid. After a while of pondering, he got it. "If y-you begin to purr -since I know that you don't really like it, but me all the more- you lost. When a purring for several seconds is heard. A-And for me... since it's honestly really hard for me to resist messing with your antennas-"

He got his tomato-face again, speaking it out aloud.

"- a-anyhow... I lost when my fingers come into contact with them." Dib just hoped it didn't sound too stupid, well, at least in Zim's eyes, since he wanted to kiss and hug again. "As I noticed, those both are things, we can hardly control." He looked down at his own chest, looking at the small hole above his sternum. The left-over from that operation. Oh, how painful it was...

Quickly shaking his head, Dib got rid of the upcoming memories and looked back to his friend. "B-But you need to take off your shirt too. You got a new one anyway, so away with the old one." Giggling at that, he couldn't wait to see Zim's bare torso again. So green and stuff...

Now with the rules officially said, Zim realized that this may actually be a tough challenge. For both of them. For him since there was no way for him to actually stop or start his purring, but now knowing that Dib couldn't mess with his antennae, this may actually turn out in his favour. And a challenge for the human since he sure did like his antennae. A lot it seems. So, this'd be a pretty even battle.

If you could even call it a battle. More of a play fight?

Zim didn't think much more about it, since he saw Dib inspecting the wound he had received during the operation previously... He still wished that the human had chosen the pain free way. But that wasn't really his choice, now was it? No... But still.

After Zim had heard the last couple of sentences that Dib had to say, he remembered that he was still wearing his uniform top. Well, fair was fair. Reaching for his sleeves, he removed his arms from his shirt first, before lifting the rest over his head. He held the uniform for a moment, realizing that may have been the last time he would wear it. Which was good, since it technically marked him as part of the empire... But bad since he'd never really worn anything else.

Zim shut his eyes briefly, and put the shirt beside him, before opening his eyes and facing back to the human with a smirk. "I accept your challenge, and will beat you," he said smugly.

Inwardly squealing, almost out loud though behold Zim's chest. He already felt like a winner. His body heated up slightly and he was tempted to- wait. They didn't even kiss by now!

Oh boy, how did he come off with THAT rules? But now, it haaad to be done, especially hearing what Zim said, sounding so self-assured.

"You don't know what you got into... anyhow, let me make you purr, Zimmy." He lifted his arms and offered himself, making puppy eyes while tilting his head to the side.

At seeing the face that Dib was pulling, Zim felt his jaw drop slightly, but he quickly shut it. Now, it is a fact that he didn't find many things 'cute'... But that. That face was indeed, to the Irken, cute. Especially how the human's arms were lifted also, in an almost needy manner... In fact... it was adorable...

'No! Stupid human! Making that face...' Zim thought, shaking his head as if to shake the thoughts right out of his brain. "We'll see human," he replied, making his way over to him. "Just don't make that face," Zim mumbled before wrapping his arms around Dib's torso; enjoying the warmth that he radiated.

The new skin to skin contact caused Dib to gasp, while his insides twisted so much, he almost exploded. Well, something surely did, because he felt so hot all of a sudden. Dib slowly sneaked his lanky arms around Zim, rubbing up and down his back. Sooo soft! Closed his eyes and enjoyed all the sensations inside of him and pressed more into the Irken, sighing contently. After several seconds though, his eyes snapped open, realizing they originally intended to kiss.

He grinned. Heh, that was even better, he thought, like he just came up with the idea. So, reluctantly leaning back, he looked at Zim's smug face, before he smashed his human pink lips to Zim's green ones rather harsh. He licked them a few times, getting used to the good taste, and waited impatiently for Zim's mouth to open, starting the 'contest'.

That moment would have been great all by itself, no contest involved. Just two friends cuddling. Yeah, it was very relaxing, especially since neither of them had their shirts on. This fact sent chills down Zim's spine. Good chills. But only after a few moments, he noticed Dib pull away from him. Zim was about to ask if anything was wrong, but before any words could be spoken, he saw Dib's face speeding towards his own and their lips met once again.

He let out a noise of discomfort at how rough that kiss was compared to the others they had shared before. But that soon vanished when he felt the human's tongue asking for entrance. Zim opened his mouth and immediately went to wrap his own tongue around the human's one. No way was he planning on losing this battle. He knew very well that both of them hated losing. He'd already beat Dib at the video game, so he hoped for a double winning streak.

Well, Zim didn't expect such a harsh start, Dib concluded by hearing that small tone coming from the other.

Planning on catching him off-guard, he was surprised at how eager his Zim was responding. But hey, he wasn't about to complain. Instead, Dib smirked as good as it was possible in his 'state'. All he needed to do was push Zim's 'competition button' to get him more... active.

Some fingers on the other's back already danced impatiently, wanting to grasp the precious things on a certain green head. Dib mentally warned them to not play tricks with him and to stay where they were.. So, distracting himself (and his fingers) from Zim's antennas, Dib just rubbed his back up and down, like he was with his palms pressed against the soft green skin.

In this moment he realized this could also make Zim purr. Now he wasn't sure if they made the rule to only use the tongues to win. Well, Dib certainly couldn't stop hugging Zim, so he would just try to press all buttons to get the nice purring sound from his Irken. But when he wanted to fight back, he noticed his tongue was already trapped by Zim's longer one. Like a wet strangling python, it was neatly wrapped around his own. He squeaked a bit and tried to get free, but Zim was determined.

Noticing the squeak that emitted from Dib, Zim narrowed his eyes slightly competitively. If his tongue wasn't already in use, he would have made some sort of remark about that. It felt good to know that the fact of the human's tongue being useless gave him a better chance of winning this.

All he had to do now was not purr... which wasn't as easy as it may sound. Especially feeling the other's hands on his back. Most of these type of moments set it off, or even if he was happy enough thought wise. Maybe thinking depressing or sad thoughts would stop it if it was ever needed. So far he couldn't feel anything resembling that annoying noise; which was good. But then again, the human seemed to be doing fine too.

Yet, it seemed to be in his favour. Since it was mainly antennae touching that caused the sound in the first place; but now Dib couldn't do that, there was more hope. Also noticing that Dib was trying to free his own tongue, Zim just tightened his grip around it. Looking at the other's face, he pulled an expression that basically said: 'you're going to lose', since he couldn't say it properly for obvious reasons.

Since he was fully concentrated on the fight inside their connected mouths, Dib's eyes were closed, but when he felt the pressure on his tongue increasing, he peeked one eye open. He saw the other's narrowed orbs and quickly he closed it again, hoping Zim didn't noticed his nervousness and the struggle not to finally squish and rub on these damn feelers, so Zim would be under his control, not so... in upper hand; but then he would be the first doing the forbidden thing.

It was strange, because it was a rather pleasant feeling and noticing Zim's eagerness of winning this didn't help that fact. Oh boy. But liking it means that he would eventually give in, as far as Dib knew his 'other side' by now. So his dilemma was obvious. Beginning to squirm around in his spot and squeaked some more, but more out of pleasure then struggle. Now one of his hands already laid in Zim's neck, so he could press even more into the kiss.

'Damn, curse Zim and his... snake in there. But it feels too good,' he mused and was still glad for the other's special tongue. He shuddered a bit and squeaked every so often.

Now feeling completely in power, Zim felt no need to keep his eyes open, so shut them also; and just focused on their current 'battle'. It was funny how they'd found a new way to fight, which didn't involve... well... fighting, really. Only they would think of, and agree, to this type of situation.

He'd never seen anyone at Skool fight like this, and probably for good reason. He just didn't know what yet.

Soon noticing the fidgeting from Dib, including the squeaking, Zim soon got reminded of a mouse... A very large mouse. Ugh, creepy thought in their current situation... But then another thought popped into his head. Maybe the reason, was he was somehow hurting the human? He wanted to win, sure. But not hurt the other.

Zim decided that maybe he should at least give Dib a chance... Which was very unlike him. But where's the fun if the other can't fight back? So, keeping that in mind, he loosened his grip around the human's tongue, yet not enough to give up. No! He was still planning on winning this competition after all.

Dib was really liking this little 'game'. He rather enjoyed Zim's arms around his bare torso, but mostly his tongue around his own one. But, still, he wanted to win more than he wanted to stay like this and let Zim have his fun with him. No way!

So, as soon as Dib felt the loosening grip of alien tongue, he saw his chance. He acted purely out of instinct, when he firmly grabbed Zim's sides and immediately tickled him. Simultaneously, he jerked his tongue out of its prison and back into his own mouth. He tickled Zim, so he was laughing uncontrollable and pushed him backwards.

Quickly, he got on top of Zim, before the Irken got up again. There he laid on Zim's green chest, spread his legs apart for support and sneaked his arms around his friend, grinning like a smurf.

Thinking about it... Zim realized that giving the human a chance was a pretty stupid idea... He noticed this when Dib began to tickle him. Instantly their lips parted and his laugh became out of control. He didn't realize that tickling was allowed in this contest! But then again, there wasn't exactly a rule mentioned that said you couldn't either...

Mentally he cursed himself for not realizing that fact. But before he could fight back, he felt himself being pushed backwards and let out a surprised yell. The soft landing made it forgiveable though. Using his arms, Zim went to pick himself back up, but found he couldn't since now Dib was on top of him.

"Hey! G-Get off me!" He yelled, trying to pull himself out from underneath the other, but found to his horror that he couldn't. Zim narrowed his eyes and looked at the grin that had formed on the human's face. Not liking the look, Zim began to squirm around to try and free himself. If he was going to win, he didn't need the human on top of him.

There! Now Zim was the who who struggled to get free... But Dib didn't intend to let that happen, until he got what he wanted. So his 'other side' told him what to do... He pulled his arms out from under Zim, stopping the hug and instead rubbed his green chest in slow circular motions. Then he leaned his face dangerously close to Zim's and looked with heavy-lidded eyes into red orbs. Zim said he liked Dib's eyes, and this time not even glasses were in the way.

When he spoke next, his voice was surprisingly soft and quite seducing.

"Come on, Zim... purr for your Dib-Friend... your Irken property. It would make me sooo happy to hear that smooth sound from you... just for a moment. Please, Zim... I wanna hear it so bad..."

Additionally, he massaged Zim's chest and sides more firmly, his hands wandering around all over the Irken's bare top. Luckily, they didn't get even near an antenna. After some moments of this display, Dib let his chin rest on Zim's chest now and kept looking at the other's face, still rubbing his sides -this time careful not to tickle Zim- and with a dreamy expression written all over his face.

Instantly stopping his struggle, Zim looked down at his own chest only to see Dib's hands there. He blushed slightly at the sight, before looking back up only to see Dib's face extremely close to his own, which caused that blush to only increase. Immediately he felt himself heat up and his muscles tense up. And that voice... wasn't helping. Not in the slightest. If anything, it caused a chill to go straight through him, a good chill though.

The Irken had never heard Dib, or anyone for that matter, speak to him like that...

Zim opened his mouth as if to say something in reply, but when no words came out, quickly shut it. But, what scared him, was that he could actually feel a purr coming on... His eyes snapped open and gasped silently. No! No way was he allowing this! Quickly, he tightly shut his mouth and held his breath... Like he was trying to cure hiccups or a cough. But those eyes, and the way the human was moving his hands around his torso... and the dreamy expression only made it even more difficult to stay silent; so, Zim shut his eyes to try and block out all things visual.

Dib had never acted like this, and it was strange, but in a good way. Zim's head was spinning with thoughts and emotions when suddenly, it all went still and quiet. All apart from one noise.

Purring.

His eyes snapped open when hearing that accursed noise, before letting his head go limp back on the sheets and letting out a sigh of defeat.

He'd lost...

"Irk damn it..." He mumbled, looking towards the ceiling.

He should feel bad for Zim and more ashamed of himself for using such methods to force Zim to purr, but he kept telling himself it was a game. With no rules. On the other side, he wasn't sure if he did this as a part to win this battle. Or if he eventually would have done it without any 'contest'. Oh well, the 'game' was a nice excuse anyway.

However, this pondering quickly vanished, when Dib noticed Zim's actions. It was quite amusing to watch, how desperately Zim was trying to prevent a purr, despite Dib's nice please! He was already about to give up, when it went suddenly silent. He stopped his rubbing and listened. Did he hear right? Yeah... It was a purring. Zim's purring! That wonderful, alluring sound he begged for...

Instantly, Dib's eyes widened along with his smile and squealed. He didn't really care if that he'd won. The boy was just happy to hear that purring again. After listening for a few seconds, he grabbed Zim's head and forcefully kissed his Irken.


	34. Chapter 34

He'd lost... Zim scowled to himself at that information... Now, it is a fact that he was a bad loser, but losing at something like this just tipped the chart! He thought he'd win no problem because he had a longer tongue than Dib, but since there we no rules about doing anything else, that obviously made a difference.

It was scary at how seductive the human could be when he wanted to... And even more so how it affected him! No way should that have worked... Yet it did. Zim shut his eyes in annoyance and replayed the scene in his head.

The face that Dib had pulled... And the voice... It gave him chills just thinking about it.

Hearing a squeal snapped him out of his thoughts with a jump. Zim's eyes widened as he stared at Dib, thinking that maybe he'd been scared by something; but that theory was gone when he saw a huge smile on the other's face.

"Dib-friend are you oka-" He went to ask, but got cut short when his lips got joined by Dib's own pair. Instantly his eyes widened and he started to kick his legs around. The competition was over, and he had only just gotten his breath back from the last time they'd... kissed... Zim could feel his face heating up again, and now his purr was back in action, that increased in volume too.

It was funny, how startled Zim was reacting. Heh, surely he didn't expect such a harsh kiss. So, Dib not only enjoyed the kiss itself, but also the fact how strongly he affected Zim with his actions. And when the purring got only louder, Dib's mind went fogged and his belly filled to the brim with knotting, squeezing... things, while his skin tingled with thousands of pins and needles all over his heating body.

On the other side... if Zim didn't like it, he should stop for now. Dib wouldn't be himself if he got only his own fun in mind. He decided to stop, while still some rational mind was present. So he caught Zim's flailing legs with his own after a few tries and parted their lips. With closed eyes, he heavily panted for some moments, still smiling to the constant purring. After collecting his thoughts, Dib opened them again.

"C-calm down, Zim and listen... I-I know, that you don't like it when you're purring, l-like now... because maybe you're ashamed or y-you think it's a... show of weakness or something... B-But it isn't a bad thing t-to do that, Zim. I-I really like to hear it... M-maybe because it shows me t-that you're happy... a-and when you are, I'm happy too. Especially when it's me... w-who makes you feel that way... So, please, Zim, d-don't try to stop it... J-Just let it go. I'm sure, it will feel good..." He explained with a reassuring voice.

Albeit smiling, he was now extremely confused. Should he feel ashamed, because he rushed and pushed Zim into all that touching and kissing without any warning? But why was he still smiling though? Because it all felt so damn right. So natural So... complete. Dib felt himself more and more connected to Zim with every day... No, with every passing hour! He wasn't sure, if it would sound too weird to say it aloud. So instead, he just kept smiling down at Zim, draped his arms over the Irken's chest and rested his head on his hands.

Zim had originally thought that maybe kicking his legs around would make Dib get off him. Apparently not.

He listened to the other's explanation and slowly calmed down his little tantrum. Well... when he put it that way... His previous scowl soon disappeared and instead was replaced with a blank expression. What more was there to say? The human had put it in just the words that he needed to hear...

The heat that he had felt earlier had long left and now he was just calm... and maybe slightly tired. So, seeing that Dib was currently just lying there also, Zim let his head rest back on the sheets and stared at the ceiling, thinking. Thinking about what just happened. How un-real it all seemed. Only days ago they were fighting, and now here they were... Lying around after just finishing a contest which involves most a lot of physical contact... It almost seemed enough to be just a dream, something he'd wake up from and forget within the time space of a couple of days. He really hoped not! Because they'd mean that their friendship would have been nothing but brain waves too. But thankfully no. It was all real. Just slightly... odd.

Zim let out a sigh, before shutting his eyes for a few seconds before re-opening them and looking back towards Dib. He was still lying there, well obviously, and still in the same position.

Zim lifted up a hand and starting messing around with the human's hair once again. Hair actually just looked like a lot of mini wires which connected to the brain really... Maybe that's what they actually were but just got mistaken for hair? No... Probably not. He just had a weird imagination...

"You're annoying human... Annoying how smart you actually are..." Zim mumbled, thinking out loud again and referring to the mini speech Dib had done just now.

Dib just stayed silent and still, seeing as Zim took his time to think. When Zim was so silent, he usually was in really deep thought. So, Dib took the chance dwelling on his own thoughts...

The heat from just moments before was still waving around washing over his body, slowly ebbing away. He shuddered when the pleasant imagines flashed in his head: Zim's long dominant tongue, his claw-like hands on his back, arms draped around his pale torso, the glistening red orbs, and most of all... his purring.

Dib caused the Irken to purr; to make such a nice sound. 'I am making Zim happy! Me. Nothings more proof than his purring...' he thought and got more and more relaxed; somewhat different from the overwhelming rush of... pleasure.

Suddenly, he felt a light movement on his head. Something was in his hair... Zim was fondling with it. He enjoyed the tingly feeling of the other's claws on his scalp for some moments, before he opened his golden-brown eyes and looked directly at Zim's red ones. Oddly, the first thing he mentioned was the somewhat uncomfortable looking position of Zim's head, so Dib lazily lifted his head to look around. Seconds after, he snatched two (luckily) nearby pillows and piled them neatly under Zim's head.

Closing his eyes again, he mumbled "Hmm... you think so? Then... you're even more annoying. Actually, the most annoying being I know... Heh. Funny, when you consider that I said the exact same thing so often in the past. Up to three days ago. But with the opposite meaning."

Letting out a content sigh, he searched with one hand for Zim's currently unemployed one. Success! He snatched it and placed it on his head, like the other hand. He mumbled stuff under his breath and enjoyed the replay of some cuddling-scenes with Zim in the last two days.

"...Zimmm..." His smile got even wider.

Noticing that Dib was looking around, Zim watched to see what he was doing, and oddly enough, he saw that he was grabbing at some pillows. Confused, the Irken was about to ask what he was doing, but couldn't since he soon saw for himself what he was doing. The human was bringing them over for him! But before he could even thank the other, he saw that he was back into the position he was in before. Zim smiled slightly at this.

Dib sure looked comfortable that was for sure. And so was he to be honest... Very comfortable. Especially with the human there with him. About to shut his own eyes, Zim felt the other's hand of his own and put it up where his other was.

"You like that then human?" He asked, chuckling slightly, now playing with his hair with both hands. He remembered how the boy had explained that his hair had no feeling... but maybe it did in some way?

After a while, he heard his name, but prolonged... The way it was said gave his chills again for an unknown reason, but he didn't mind, especially when seeing the smile the other was giving.

Zim smiled again and rested his head back onto the newly delivered pillows. Suddenly he felt extremely tired... And it wasn't helping at how comfortable they both were. Checking his internal clock, it was now 11:17pm... Wow, how times flies... Weird human expression, but true in this case. The day had seemed to go quite fast, but so much had happened also. Including their friendship building in strength. The smile on the Irken's face grew and he then shut his eyes. Letting out a sigh, he seemed to feel like he was sinking into the sheets below him. And the weight of the human on top of him made the moment even more special...

His breathing evened out and soon his mind went cloudy whilst any thoughts faded to black. And soon he had fallen asleep without even realizing he was doing it.

The calm moment was just too much for him.

After a while of unknown length, Dib lazily opened his hazel eyes and saw Zim's sleeping and slightly snoring face.

Dib grinned fondly at him and just watched. Now he realized that he never got the chance to watch the other sleep. After all, it was only the second time they slept together and the first time -last night- they dozed off almost simultaneously.

Zim's big beautiful ruby orbs were now hidden beneath green lids.

Dib wondered how he was able to snore without a nose... Well, maybe it was something different, something 'alien'. Dib quietly chuckled at this.

The more time he was spending with Zim, the more he knew the true Zim, not the shell of proud and egocentric, self-centred. Yes, Zim was still holding up a shield of proud and a big ego. But well noticed, this shield was getting thinner. And somehow it suited him of course. Zim wouldn't be Zim without an ambitious, proud and 'genius' attitude. That's what Dib liked about him. But the Irken greatly changed during the past 2 days, it was... weird. The boy was sure, the banishment played a role, but his heart was telling him that he himself, Dib, was the main reason for Zim's 'changes'.

Maybe the little Irken had these emotions and affection inside himself all his life, but never met someone to share it with or who was able to reciprocate it. It was even more sad regarding Zim's age in Earth years. Such a long time...

Dib reached forward and gently stroked Zim's cheek with his hand.

Maybe... maybe he was the first being who saw this side of Zim! His first real friend. Well, Zim was definitely Dib's first...

Suddenly a deep yawn left his mouth. Now he was even more tired; all this musing and thinking... it just happened.

Dib looked to the left and to the right, as if checking if someone was looking. Then, he leaned slowly forward to Zim's face and gave him a small kiss, dragging his tongue over green lips with a long lick. Leaning backwards, Dib smacked his mouth and smiled even wider.

Grabbing both of the other's hands, which laid on the sheets, Dib wrapped them around his body over his back. He let out a content sigh and rested his head on Zim's chest, hugging him tightly. There he laid and dozed off. With the constant pace of alien breathing in his ears, the feeling of wonderful soft skin beneath him and the comforting taste of his Zim on the tongue.

It was already said, so here's an update: Dib couldn't be happier in that moment.

~~~

The next morning came too soon. Far too soon. But it didn't take a genius to work out who was being the alarm clock. There was a high pitch shrieking coming from the main level, but so loud it probably reached half way to China...

Zim made a whining noise at the back of his throat from the rude awakening, before going to turn over to his side to try and block out the noise. However, he found he couldn't since there was a weight on top of him which was preventing him from moving. So, opening his eyes, Zim soon saw what it was. A still sleeping human. A sleeping Dib to be exact.

Memories from the past day soon flooded back to the surface of his mind, causing him to blush from embarrassment. Ugh... What was he thinking? But looking at the human's sleeping face caused him to remember what he was thinking... Very much so...

At this moment Dib looked so calm and innocent. Like he'd never done anything bad in his life. Zim smiled at the other, before bringing one of his hands up to the human's hair and messing with it again. It was actually quite relaxing, for both of them he guessed; since yesterday Dib had seemed to like it. His other hand was still around the boy's torso.

The moment would have been perfect, if a certain noisy robot wasn't screaming its head off... The noise was giving him a headache. If the human wasn't stopping him from moving, he would go and slap GIR...

'Stupid robot,' Zim mentally whined, before resting his head back. But what he felt wasn't the sheets, it was the pillows Dib had brought over... Instantly, he lifted his head back up to look at the other. Still sleeping and breathing steadily. Looking so carefree. Well, people are when they're asleep. In a world of their own.

After studying Dib's face a while longer, Zim soon realized that the human was still without his glasses. So, looking around, he soon saw them not so far off; and reached out one of his hands to pick them up and inspect them, still using the other hand to mess with Dib's hair. He'd lost the contest, sure, but if the human was asleep then he couldn't complain.

After a few minutes, the Irken decided that he'd probably studied them as much as was possible, so put them back on Dib's face as best he could without waking him. Took a few attempts, but got there eventually.

Resting his head back into the pillows, he chose he'd just wait for Dib to wake up before doing anything else.

Dib's mind slowly emerged from weird, Zim-related dreams into the bright reality. With a small grunting noise, he lifted his way too heavy lids and the first thing he saw was red. Red oval eyes...

'He's already awake...' A warm smile spread across his face. Good. He was still with Zim and had apparently not moved an inch. There was this nice tingle on his head again... Still feeling so drowsy, he looked up and saw a green arm, stretched towards his hair. Zim played with it... again. Heh, cute. And it felt so relaxing. In fact, everything felt so warm and comfy in that moment. Zim's soft skin, one arm on his back, the combing claws. All, but one thing... that horrible screeching noise!

His fogged up mind was only yet really aware of it. The sound harshly flooded his head and made him fully awake against his will. He would have laid there on top of Zim for several more hours, never budging one limp. But, that noise... that noise made it impossible! Stupid GIR.

Growling slightly, Dib pulled his arms from underneath Zim and tried to block out the screeching by pressing his palm to the ears. It didn't really work... So he dropped them again and just hoped it would pass soon.

"We should imprison GIR in a soundproof chamber... that sucks," he grumbled annoyed, not yelling, since Zim's feelers were already so near. "Damn, this is not fair, Zim," he then whined and crawled up a bit, so he could hide his face into the pillows beside Zim's head.

The growl from the other reached Zim's antennae which sent a message saying that Dib was now awake. So, looking to the other, he saw a quite annoyed expression and his ears being covered. Well, who could blame him? GIR could be extremely annoying... especially when screaming in his annoying high pitched voice... Ugh, he'd have to change that, but thinking of a lower pitched GIR was just... weird... However, the suggestion Dib made was defiantly a possibility. He'd have to look into that. But for now they'd just have to try and ignore it... no matter how hard it may be. Since, it seemed neither one of them wanted to get up just yet.

Zim chuckled slightly at how Dib hid his face into the pillow, almost trying to hide from the sound altogether.

"Speak for yourself human... Zim has had to put up with GIR for a lot longer than you," he teased, turning his head to face Dib. He could understand though. Getting woken up by the robot was annoying... He did it most mornings. They were just lucky he didn't the other day... After a while though, even the Irken was starting to lose his temper.

"Computer! Shut him up!" He yelled to the ceiling, hoping it'd find a way to do the job. And after a few seconds, the noise gradually faded. The computer probably opened the door to let GIR outside or something... Who cared as long as the noise was gone?

"Thank Irk..." Zim mumbled, relieved that silence had been restored to the room. But it also filled with a slightly awkward mood. Deciding to speak first, without complaining at least, Zim spoke again. "So... uh... How did you sleep?"

Zim was right. Now that Dib thought about it, GIR was Zim's sidekick since he landed here on Earth; and who knows how much longer than that. And Dib already whined after just a few days. Embarrassed now, he hid his face even deeper, until he felt his glasses being pressed against his face. Hmm, strange. Usually, he took them off when going to bed. So, Zim must have put them back on, when he was sleeping...

Now, Dib got quite curious. And... wait; he heard 'computer' being shouted and soon the screeching was slowly getting weaker, until it was gone. Thank god. Also because breathing was hard with the pillows in his face. He lifted his head, took a deep breath and then looked calmly at Zim. 'For how long was he watching me actually? When I was still sleeping...' he wondered and adjusted his glasses. The next thing he noticed was Zim's question. His dreams just moments ago were already nothing more but a fogged blur of faint images of Zim. Still, Dib's face flared up, because he DREAMED about Zim in the first place. Now he felt a bit like a weirdo.

"W-Well, I slept rather nice. Actually... it was very comfortable. I-I guess I've never slept better, also b-because I got some n-nice dreams... about you..." he mumbled the last part, quite embarrassed now. He really didn't know why he was telling Zim this, if it was so weird and awkward. But... Zim was the one who asked, so Dib was just honest. The Irken somehow needed to know that, Dib believed.

Noticing the redness on Dib's face, Zim wondered that maybe the question was considered weird in human terms, but was relieved to hear the human answer like anyone else would... Apart from one part. He'd dreamt about him? Zim suddenly became curious about the dream now, but decided against asking too many questions so close to just waking up. Half his mind was still half asleep and was just slowly waking back up. He really hated mornings... Wait, was it even morning?

Checking his internal clock again, it actually turned out to be 10:03am. Well, that's probably what happens when you fall asleep late... But it was worth it. Yesterday was pretty exciting and new. In lots of ways. Too many to recall in his current mind... still half asleep.

"Glad to hear..." He mumbled, followed by a yawn. He decided he'd ask about the whole 'dream' thing later. For now he was just thinking about yesterday's shopping activity; trying to keep the changing room scene out of his mind for the moment. But after a while, the silence felt weird...

"GIR's good for one thing though, an alarm clock," Zim said, trying to 'un-awkward' the moment with some humour. But even he'd have to say it wasn't any good. He wasn't very good at Earth jokes just yet. Or any jokes for that matter. But oh well, it wasn't exactly important.

"Yeah, he works just fine," Dib mumbled a bit annoyed; but after some seconds he chuckled though about the whole situation. It didn't fell quite as awkward as he expected it to be. Waking up shirtless on top of Zim. When the boy recalled the last night in his mind, he blushed and dug his head into the pillows again. They smelled like Zim... Just thinking about what he had done with Zim caused goosebumps on his pale skin.

Dib thought about it... if they were already in this position now, they could do some of the things again, right? Since they both weren't fully awake just yet, some morning cuddling was a nice thing to do. The best actually. Taking a deep breath, he got up from the pillows and rubbed his eyes under the glasses, blinked... and then yawned long like a big cat.

Yep, getting up now was out of the question. Zim was too... tempting, the way the laid there, just being... cute! But this time, Dib was smart enough to ask before he got too 'wild' again. So, he rested his head on his hands and looked at his Irken and tried to make pleading puppy eyes, pouting slightly.

"Wanna c-cuddle a bit, Zim?... I know, you don't wanna get up too. Sooo... what else could we do?" While speaking, he rubbed his chest against Zim's, curious of his reaction.

Hearing Dib's annoyed tone when talking about GIR made Zim smile slightly, he still felt too tired to laugh at that moment. He just hoped he'd become fully awake soon. He really wasn't a morning person. Yet he didn't mind just lying there with the human for awhile longer. If they could stay there all day, he probably would, but then again, it may get slightly boring after a while... He wondered what they'd do today, since he remembered some things Dib had mentioned a while ago what friends do while in each other's company.

But those thoughts got removed when Zim saw Dib's puppy-dog face and heard his question. This was now the second time the human had used that face to get what he wanted... He was actually pretty good at it. And the Irken hated him for it. Dib just looked so... 'cute' when doing that... And 'cute' wasn't a word he used often... Not often at all. And it didn't help that now their chests were rubbing together.

Zim gasped slightly at the sensation and remembering that they were both still shirtless... 'You've got to be kidding...' He mentally whined, before giving the other a slight frown. But after a few moments of getting no response, he sighed and answered. "Fine... Just stop that face." That face was extremely nice to see actually, but just so unbelievably persuasive.

The gasping and the following frown was quite amusing to see, since Zim was literally trapped. His begging expression turned into a smug one. "Oookay... There's no escape anyhow, Zimmy." And before he knew he was saying it, he added: "Just let's take it as my prize for winning last night."

Suddenly, Dib was in a kinda playful mood. Maybe it was the friction from the rubbing or Zim's at first glance somehow refusing, but in reality agreeing and happy response. Dib knew that. His Irken friend was just not the type to say what he really thought, especially about things he likes. But Zim's body told the boy otherwise... With those things in mind, he slowly leaned forward and rubbed his nose between Zim's big red eyes. Grabbing the other's cheeks, then Dib lightly licked his lips, before went to curiously nibbling at them.

Now he was awake for sure... When he saw Dib moving closer to him and then rubbing his nose between his eyes, Zim instantly felt his breathing hitch in his throat, before returning to normal; if slightly faster in pace.

When the human said 'cuddling', he thought of just hugging, but it seemed the boy had other ideas when it came to 'cuddling'. He didn't mind, but was not going to say that! No matter how much puppy eyes he did. Although, it was unlikely that Dib would even ask such a thing.

The gesture made by the human was quite innocent, but that changed when Zim felt the other's tongue on his lips and then soon his teeth.

The Irken made a surprised tone, before trying to jerk his head back out of instinct. Though, after a few moments, he relaxed again and just started to mess with the sheets on the bed to let out some of his nerves. Why was he nervous anyway? They'd done it before... Maybe it was because it was first thing in the 'morning'. Late morning more like. He just hadn't expected this moment to happen just as they both had woken up.

The Irken's instant reactions were telling Dib that he was doing 'it' right. They both were so new to this, but Dib was more curious than afraid or worried. So he just did what his instincts told him. Sure, he don't wanted to push things and make Zim uncomfortable, but he liked his role to lead things and literally being on top in this moment.

This was a whole other Dib than the crying one the bench before the mall entrance, thinking Zim didn't like his touches, maybe even being disgusted by them. He knew they would soon do other nice friend's activities, but he felt like he needed his 'portion' of Zim first. Tasting and rubbing.

After some more very nice moments of nibbling and licking, Dib leaned back and looked at Zim, panting and with askew glasses. To his surprise, Zim's eyes were already a good chunk darker than just two minutes ago. He smugly grinned at this. Yep, he wasn't that bad.

"Heh... Are you awake now?"

Dib definitely seemed pleased with himself... That was clarified at the smug grin Zim saw when they separated. They were both panting by now, and each had a blush on their faces. Usually Zim hated to be the one being dominated by another - though usually it was in battles or fights, but this was different.

He didn't mind how Dib seemed to be 'in charge' in these moments. It was almost 'natural' to have it that way. But then again, these moments probably weren't meant to happen in the first place. They were originally meant to be enemies... Both trained to fight the other. Zim by the empire, Dib by his paranormal interests. Yet, now here they were. Waking up together and then having another 'moment'.

"Yes... Zim's awake..." He mumbled between pants. Once he had gotten his breath back, Zim decided that maybe it was time to actually get up. They couldn't stay there all day after all. But to do so, he needed the other to move.

"Human, now could you get off me?" He asked in a half sarcastic tone.

Sitting up, Dib looked down at the panting Zim. "Sure. Let's get somethin' to eat, what do you think?" He happily and finally pushed himself off of Zim. Grabbing Zim's shirt, he was about to give it to him, but stopped in his tracks.

"Hold on." Throwing it away, he crawled to the end of the bed, bent over the edge, back to Zim, and rummaged through the shopping bag. After some seconds, he held up the new bought red shirt, turned around and tossed it to Zim.

"There, put it on. It looked nice on you and it's bigger than your old one and-" Suddenly, he was confused. "Umm... you're okay, Zim?" He asked, because the other was giving him a strange look and blushed quite a bit.

Once Dib was off him, Zim sat up and stretched out his arms, since they felt cramped, but that soon left. He left out a slight content sigh before turning to face the human again.

But all he saw was the back of Dib, which included his- Oh lord... Zim quickly looked back down at his lap, blush increasing. He had just got a good view of the human's butt... 'Oh Irk...' He mentally whined, bringing his knees to his chest and placing his forehead on them.

Why was it such a big deal anyway? He didn't know... But what he did know was that it felt wrong to look...

Once his cringing moment had past, he glanced back over to Dib, and saw him throw over the new shirt. Also noticing the other's question, he quickly grabbed the shirt off the sheets and threw it over his head whilst replying; hoping to hide his face for a moment.

"Yes, I'm fine!" He stated, like it was obvious.

Once the shirt was on, he straightened it up and looked down at it. It was more roomy than his uniform was. More room to move. Plus, it let more air pass through the material, which was good on warm days.

Something else popped into the Irken's head before he could think about the shirt any more though. "What do you usually have to eat in the mornings?" He asked, wondering if there was any human food left in the kitchen. Well, what was left of it after GIR messed it up a while ago...

"Well... good. I just asked." Was the boy's unsure reply. But from the way Zim almost yelled back, obviously something was on Zim's mind. Something weird. At least for him, since he was blushing so , Dib decided it would be the best to let it go. For now.

In moments like this, Dib wished that Zim would tell him what's going on in his mind on his own. Without asking. But, Dib surely would not push anything. Well, at least he'd try to...

However, hearing the Irken's question, dissipated Dib's musings and made him suddenly hungry. A lot actually. Right on cue, his stomach answered by growling loudly. Dib blushed, snatched his shirt and quickly put it on.

"A-Actually, when I'm really hungry, I like to eat fatty and sweet stuff. I thought that... maybe we could go out and eat something at a fast-food store. Honestly, I don't really trust these waffles GIR is making." Dib replied, knowing Zim told about them before. Who knew, what those 'waffles' are actually made off...

Hearing the growl from Dib's stomach, Zim instantly looked down at the human's stomach before laughing slightly. But quickly covered it up with a cough.

Yep, now it was a fact that Dib was hungry. He was himself actually... And he had to agree with him about GIR's cooking... It wasn't exactly trustworthy in any shape or form... Not when the first time he had cooked waffles he'd put peanuts and soap in them... They were okay to start with, but after a while...

Ugh. Bad memories, that's all he could say.

But at the mention of sweet food, he immediately perked up. It was probably a well known fact that Zim loved anything with sugar on... Snacks and candy mostly. So that idea sounded pretty good. And it meant they could get out of the base for awhile too. Also, since it wasn't the middle of the afternoon, unlike yesterday's trip was, probably not many people would be out and about. So, not many crowds!

"Okay! Where though?" He asked, now quite excited about the idea.

Glad that Zim agreed, Dib immediately got a good idea where to go.

"Ya' know, there's a new restaurant down the street called 'The Deep-Fried Hut'. I wasn't in there, but there was a flyer in my mailbox, saying they deep-fry almost everything. Whole meals or snacks like chocolate bars, fruits and even waffles. Eggs, potatoes, noodles, nuts... Meat is out of the question of course. Or we could just get a piece of cake at a diner."

Both options sounded really nice, because Dib got his friend now to share his time and food with. He almost mentioned ice-cream too, but luckily stopped himself, before the moment was getting... bad again. It would just remind them of Beth. Not that Dib really mind it, but he guesses how Zim thought about her... Well, there were enough other stores, selling that stuff.

Dib got off of the bed and tapped his butt pocket (checking for his wallet). "Let's hope, the weather is as nice like yesterday. Since you can't tell from down here."

Each example the human gave sounded better than the next, but what nailed the decision down to the first option was the mention of waffles. Waffles were definitely Zim's favourite Earth food! Well, if they were correctly cooked that is. Unlike GIR's ones... Anything with soap in was just disgusting!

Not that he'd say that to the robot, or it may go off into one of its tantrums... A one way ticket to a headache, that was for sure. Even worse than earlier when the robot was screaming. Which was saying something!

"The first option sounds good, and-" Zim started, but got stopped when he saw Dib tap his pocket near his butt. Instantly Zim's face flared up and he changed his gaze to the wall. What was it that suddenly made any reference to that 'place' of the human's so... weird? The Irken once again brought his knees to his chest and cringing slightly.

There was no change... not really, so why...

...

Zim groaned in annoyance and let his face fall into his knees again. That didn't last long though, since he remembered that Dib probably heard that, so he instantly sat up straight and put on a plain face as quickly as he could.

Now Dib was worried, since it was obviously something not okay with Zim. Well, blushing was kinda normal when they were together... but hugging your legs to hide your face really wasn't. Like trying to cover it by looking blank ahead too...

Dib played unsurely with his finger, before he sighed and sat next to Zim on the bed. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but felt like he should at least ask, offering help. Trust was important, so Dib hoped he got something from the Irken.

"Zim?... Hey, what's wrong? You're acting odd and are blushing... more than usual. Friends help each other, so please tell me what's up." He tried to sound not too demanding, but now Dib really wanted to know.

Seeing Dib now coming to sit by him, Zim immediately cursed himself mentally for showing his frustration.

Knowing already what the human was going to ask, the Irken quickly started to think of excuses. None were very believable... But he didn't want to say the truth either... Maybe somewhere in-between? It'd have to do. So, now looking at Dib, Zim waited for the question, and as soon as it had been said; instantly replied.

"Nothing really. Just thoughts being stupid..." He said, pointing to his forehead, but bringing back down the hand to mess with his new sleeves.

"Nothing important," he added, hoping that'd be enough to convince the other.


	35. Chapter 35

**YaY!**

**A new longest chapter. It'S getting more and more fun writing this story, while it leads to more fluff and frustration, confusion and affection xD**

**Enjoy! Now!^^**

Dib clearly noticed how nervous Zim was. Something was clearly bothering him. So, he just draped his arm over the Irken's shoulders and gently pressed him against his side, hoping Zim would open up a bit, when he comforts him.

"Come on, Zim. What's bothering you? It always helps when you speak about your problems with a friend. What's on your mind? Heh. I'm curious to know! I bet it's not stupid. How could it even be... you're Zim after all!" He happily added the last part, knowing some compliments are often helping when it comes to handle with Zim.

And they were even true. So, nothing wrong with that.

In the past, nobody had actually cared as much as Dib did in this moment... And that made Zim feel guilty about not saying what was actually on his mind... But how could he possibly say what was wrong?

It'd just sound so... weird.

Maybe he could just say what was wrong, but just leave out some parts that could be avoided. Yet, being so close to Dib at that moment and the words which had been spoken, made lying sound so wrong too.

"That's true, but it's really not important. I just keep thinking weird thoughts..." He said, before turning his head to the wall, away from Dib.

"About you..." He added, though it was barely above a whisper.

Zim really didn't want to explain anymore than that, so quickly shook his head and went to get off the bed. "Are we going or what?" He asked, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible too.

Now, if that wasn't obvious that Zim didn't want to talk about it further. Still, Dib was quite curious and it was Zim after all... In Dib's mind, everything about him was worth knowing. But what interested Dib more, actually shocked, were the two tiny words Zim said when he looked away from him...

'About me,' he thought, almost panicked and greatly blushed. 'Weird thoughts ... about me!?' Well, that could mean so much and that was the creepy thing about it. But the boy was smart enough not to mention it aloud and just let it drop. For now.

He awkwardly coughed into his hand, closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to reduce his tomato-face, and also also stood up. "Well, sure. Let's go then..." For reassuring, he did it again. Snatching Zim's hand and leading him out of the room, exactly knowing where to go, like it was his base. Silently and hand-holding, they eventually reached the living room. No GIR was in sight. Thank god!

Seeing the blush form on the human's face, Zim instantly regretted mentioning the 'about you' part... Who knows what Dib was thinking now... Probably that he was a creep... Or worse... Maybe he was though! Thoughts like those weren't normal to the Irken. Especially about a human... Dib particularly. But, before he could make another excuse which sounded less weird, he felt Dib's hand on his own and lead them down the halls and back to the elevator. And after a few minutes, they reached the main level.

It was quiet since GIR wasn't there, thankfully. The computer probably hadn't let the robot back inside yet. Good.

Zim shook his hand free, and walked over to the couch, where he had left his disguise the other day, and picked them up. He really hated them. The contacts were itchy, and the wig was uncomfortable, but there wasn't exactly another choice... So, after putting them both back on, he made his way back to Dib, and reunited their hands once again.

Without Zim's hand, Dib was about to ask something, but quickly shut his mouth again, after seeing the disguise in Zim's hands. Right. He needed it.

Heh. Funny, since he almost walked casually out of the house with an undisguised Zim in his hand. Very smart, Dib! But he was already so used to see the other in Irken form. It felt natural. Normal. But no-one was that stupid as to see Zim how he really looked without realizing his alien nature. Of course, it was the last thing Dib wanted. Nobody takes his Zim away from him! Right after their hands connected again, Dib subconsciously tightly gripped the other's one and squeezed it. Before he quickly hugged Zim, shutting his eyes.

Suddenly, pictures of policemen -dragging Zim away, undisguised and handcuffed- flooded his mind, so he held Zim even tighter. A tiny whimper left his mouth and soon... the pictures vanished. Dib opened his eyes, back in reality. Amber-coloured circles looked around the room for anything... suspicious. Nothing. Pweh. But nope, Dib didn't pull back.

One thing was for sure, Zim had not expected the hug from Dib. Especially when they were about to go outside. Not that he was going to complain. He wrapped his arms around the other's back and hugged back, if slightly confused.

Beginning to wonder if the human was okay, Zim changed his gaze so he could see Dib's face and saw that his eyes were shut. What certified that something was wrong though, was the whimper which left the other and how the hug tightened.

Now worried, Zim decided to ask. "Dib-Friend are you okay?" He questioned, reaching up a hand to mess with the other's hair again. The situation sure had changed. Just a few moments ago Dib was the one worried about him, but now it was Zim who was worried about Dib. Strange, but not unlikely. And the way the human was looking around the room said something too... Had he seen something? Looking around also, he saw nothing. Not even a certain insane robot...

Everything was nice again as soon as Dib felt Zim's claws in his ebony-black hair. He relaxed greatly and let out a content sigh. How could he not like him, asking so sincere and worried if he was okay?

The boy smiled fondly at Zim and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Y-Yes, now I'm very okay. Thanks, Zim... Let's go eat something sweet!" Opening the door, they stepped outside. The sun was shining as friendly as yesterday. Birds sang in the trees and Dib was happy. So they silently walked hand in hand with Zim down the street, both of them dwelling on own thoughts. Which mostly revolved around the other one... The one being whose hand you're holding. The one you made all this touching and kissing.

But Dib was also slightly worried about himself. About what happened just moments ago. Was he getting paranoid? Probably not, since he was only afraid for Zim's well-being in any way. He didn't want to lose him, that was all! On the other side, Dib grew so fond of Zim. Such affection. It felt so nice. But then... Regarding all the things they did; he did with Zim... Zim did to him... It were things only mates are doing to each other. Alone that word.

Mate.

The mere thought of... being Zim's... mate. It didn't feel wrong in the slightest. Quite the opposite. Although Dib was totally new to this stuff, like Zim too, it felt so... so exciting, so comforting. Belonging to someone in such a way. It was unique. It was deep. It was meaningful. Zim was...

While all this stuff shot through his big head, Dib looked from time to time beside him. At his Irken. Zim... And every time, he did, his heart beat faster and ached. The warm smile never left Dib's face, when the 'deep-fried hut' slowly came in sight.

Noticing the other relax, Zim smiled ever so slightly and waited for a reply. He didn't have to wait for long though, since he got an answer and a quick kiss too. The Irken's face flared up straight away, and a mini spark made its way down his spine. Barely noticeable, but still there. For a few moment, he just stood there in shock, not expecting that at all. Even less than the hug.

But soon he blinked a few times and regained his mind whilst smiling slightly. "Okay," he replied, nodding happily. Once they were outside, he was relieved to see that it was still sunny. Rain would have just ruined everything. Especially since it was pretty much acid to him. But that wasn't important at that time, since there was hardly any clouds in sight.

Whilst walking, he began to think about what had happened moments ago back in his room. How embarrassed he'd got at just looking at Dib's... well, yeah... for just a moment! Why though? It'd never been a problem in the past whilst they'd battled...

Not that he had looked on purpose of course! Ugh... He wasn't helping himself at the moment... Really he wasn't. But this time Zim kept all this frustration mental. Didn't want a repeat of questions.

It wasn't even long enough to classify as a 'look' anyway. More of a 'glance'... But still, it made him feel weird... Mentally mostly, but also in other ways. Before he could get anymore confused, he decided to stop his train of thoughts, and looked up. There was a building approaching with a giant sign outside which said its name.

"Is that it?" Zim asked, pointing towards the building. If it was, then it wasn't very far from the base at all... How come he'd never seen it before? Maybe it was new. He highly doubted it though.

Zim seemed also to be in deep thoughts... but before Dib could wonder about what was going on in the Irken's head, he heard the question. "Yeah, that's it. With all the deep-fried stuff in it. It just recently opened." Taking a few steps, they entered the premises.

Like expected, almost nobody was inside. Quite empty. So, maybe he could talk with Zim in calmness. Eating and talking. Rather normal, right? Dib only hoped it won't turn too weird, awkward again... But maybe it would be different here, in public and with a candy-stuffed belly.

Dib walked towards the register, where the vitrines stood. There were all the things they're deep-frying. Cakes, waffles, fruited chocolate in all forms. Even cookies and ice-cream. After the process the cream was melted inside a hull of crunchy dough and oil. An options, was to pour caramel sauce over your fried order or whip-cream. Yep, pretty sweet that stuff...

Oh, so the place WAS new after all. Now Zim was just glad he hadn't said his thoughts out loud this time.

As they walked up to the building, Zim noted it's exterior. It was a lot cleaner than most other buildings in this town and less vandalism too. That would probably change in time though. Buildings never stayed clean round here... Even he knew that!

Once they were inside, he also noticed how hardly anyone was there. Zim smiled at that fact, before looking forward. The sight that met his eyes was a huge list of different food you could order... There were quite a few... A lot actually! It was almost like being back on Foodcourtia.

But better!

Maybe humans didn't have such bad taste in food after all. Well, this place didn't at least. One option stuck out though. Waffles! Zim grinned at this. Maybe GIR should come here some time and they could teach him how to properly cook them...

Food and soap do NOT mix!

Pressing his face to the vitrine, the choice was not easy, but in the end Dib chose. "We'll have two deep-fried chocolate bars and-"

He briefly looked back at the grinning Zim

"- a large waffle with caramel sauce and powder sugar on top of it and two cans of Poop cola." Dib knew how much the Irken liked them, since he spied on him and watched him eating waffles... He took a small sign with number 3 on it and walked to a far sitting area in the corner. Isolated and soft.

"Come on, Zim. we take this one over there." He said, pointing to the corner.

It was only then that he realized that their hands we still connected. Odd. No wonder, the cashier was looking at him with a grin. Slightly blushing he looked at Zim. They must have looked like two love-birds...But it wasn't embarrassing, just... odd. The thought was not unpleasant, just rather new. The boy stood there and fiddled with some coins in his pocket, while his 'occupied' hand got somewhat sweaty.

Listening to Dib order, immediately Zim turned his gaze to the other's face with the same smile. Maybe the human was psychic after all! Or maybe it was just obvious... Either way, he couldn't wait now. It sounded so delicious! But, before he could think any further, he felt Dib begin to walk, so quickly followed.

Only after a few steps, the human stopped, so Zim did also. There was now a blush on the other's face and he looked kind of nervous too... Especially since he seemed to be messing with something in his pockets. Coins probably... Turning his gaze behind the other, he saw the cashier which had served them grinning, before shaking his head and going through a door going to the back of the shop... Maybe to the kitchen.

Well, that was weird.

Looking back to Dib, he also felt that his hand was getting sweaty... "...Are you okay?" He asked, squeezing the other's hand slightly as a way to comfort him. He didn't like seeing the human like this, so... nervous looking. Or even slightly embarrassed even? Was it the hand-holding maybe? If so...

Zim let go of Dib's hand. He then smiled at the other, as if asking: 'Is that better?'

It wasn't important what people were thinking! What did other ever do for him anyway? Zim was the only one, so Dib was not going to let the stares of others affect their friendship. Now determined, Dib made his decision. 'I don't care!'

So he grabbed Zim's hand again and led him to the seats. Zim sat at the window's side and Dib took the opposite side. Neat. From there he could look at Zim pretty good.

Smiling smugly, Dib then stood up and snatched Zim's arm, slid his hand over it, until it reached the second green hand. It was not fair. One got a Dib-hand and the other was empty. So he took the second one too. Now their arms were outstretched on the table, while the boy's slightly bigger hands engulfed Zim's ones.

"Yep, I'm fine. Just waiting for our food," he replied delayed, quite happy now.

The sudden change in Dib was unexpected, but not bad. Since he seemed happier now; less... 'on edge'. Looking around though, Zim could see a few people looking at them, some looking slightly disgusted, some smiling... Why were they staring in the first place?

After giving each of them a glare, he sat down at the table, before looking back to Dib. Instead of a blush, there was now a smile, which was better to see. A happy Dib was better than a nervous one.

For a few moments, Zim just kept looking at the other's eyes. Yes, they were slightly blocked out by the glasses, but not enough to ruin the sight. But at feeling both his hands connected to Dib's own pair, he looked down at the clash of green and light peach.

And to think... Just less than a week ago, they were probably trying to tear the other apart. But no, not now.

The other's reply was delayed, sure, but he just glad to hear he was okay. Zim gave him a smile before turning his head to look outside. The light from the sun was beaming through the window on them both and so was the warmth. A few people walked down the street every now and then, and cars zoomed past every 10 or so seconds. Average day for most really...

Now that he was holding two hands and saw the smile on Zim's face, along with the warm sun and sweet-sticky smell in the air... the whole situation felt somehow like a date to Dib. Well, that made his heart beat quite fast, and like it was one of his trademarks, the blush returned again. It was strangely like him though: When a blush was barely gone, the next followed soon. Now that he thought about it... in the last 2 days, his face was literally more blushing than having its normal pale colour.

And all because of Zim...

Directly by touches or indirectly through merely thinking about him. And there was a lot to think about. He was so... green. Looking at him, Dib tried to imagine the nice red orbs behind those stupid contacts. Yay. It kinda worked. But quickly, he was aware of his own stare and silenceness, so he spoke.

"S-So, Zim...umm what do you think about our sleepover so far?" He began a small-talk, but wanted to really know how Zim thought about it. About spending so much time with him. Maybe he wanted to be alone for a while? Or was bored!? Well, Dib knew he wasn't an exciting person, probably plain uninteresting.

Still... Zim seemed to see otherwise. He, as a human, was an alien to the Irken after all.

Soon getting bored of the window, Zim watched one more car go down the road before turning his head back around to face Dib. The first thing he noticed was the thoughtful look on the human's face as well as his stare. Right at him. All of a sudden, he felt quite awkward. Having someone look at you like that could be kind of uncomfortable. He wasn't complaining, he just wasn't used to it. Also the faint blush was back again...

Zim bit his lip slightly and averted his eyes from one side of the room to the other. Whilst doing this, he saw two teenagers, 1 male and 1 female, staring at them and laughing slightly. Instantly Zim narrowed his eyes at them, trying to look threatening. Seemed to work, since they soon returned to their own conversation.

Hearing Dib's question soon distracted him from his little victory though. "Huh? The sleepover?"

...How was he finding the sleepover actually? To be honest, it was probably some of the best days he'd had on Earth. Especially since they were together. Now, just a way to put that into words without it sounding weird...

"Yes, well, the sleepover has been most enjoyable. It's been nice to spend time with someone with half a brain cell. GIR and Minimoose aren't exactly the best of company. And, it's been interesting to learn more about you, Dib-human. Very much so!"

How much more could he hoped for? For Zim, it was actually a really positive answer. Most enjoyable... yeah, Dib enjoyed it so much, it slightly scared him. But mostly it was a almost constant nice, squeezing tingling in his belly. Seemingly nestled itself there to tease Dib. To tell his brain to do things he didn't intend to do in the first place, but afterwards weren't 'most enjoyable', despite being awkward sometimes...

He coughed, blushing even more and replied: "R-Really? Well, yeah. It was the best time I... ever had. That sounds like I'm the biggest loner in the world, I know, but... but nobody gave me this... feelings before. This touching; I-I can't stop thinking about it, Oh boy, I'm babbling again, aren't I? Damn... I really don't wanna make this awkward again. S-Sorry! I'm talking myself into trouble again..."

During his talk, his feet lightly were poking Zim's one. They wanted to play footsie. But before Dib could stop them after his talk, a waitress came to the table and wordlessly put the plates before both of them, after Dib just said "Waffle's for him" and "Thank you."

Instantly, his mouth watered up at the yummy smell and sight of his chocolate bars. But seeing Zim's huge waffle, he couldn't help himself. Lifting his fork, he quickly stabbed a edge of the waffle, ripped it away and happily munched on it. His eyes widened. "It's so...sweet!" He said with a waffle-filled mouth and was about to get another piece...

Dib's babbling was actually quite amusing the listen to, and this caused a smug smile to make its way onto Zim's face. The human seemed to do that often, but he wouldn't change it, since the constant talking was just natural to Dib. It was what made him, well... him, really!

Zim was just about to reply, when a female made her way over to their table with 2 plates and 2 cans, set them down, then left as quick as she appeared... He watched her leave, and returned his gaze back to Dib, who seemed to be chewing on something. The human's food was untouched though. Looking down, he saw that a corner of the waffle was gone.

It was a massive waffle though! Quite bigger than a normal one. Around twice the size. So one small bite wasn't going to hurt, the human probably just wanted a taste. Well, who wouldn't? It looked amazing! Almost too good to eat! ...Almost. But that hadn't seemed to stop Dib from having a piece.

Zim decided he wasn't going to explode, like he usually would, but just keep it cool. So, when he saw the other's fork make its way for a second, he chose that moment to speak. "Enjoying that, are we Dib?" He asked, choosing not to add any nicknames this time; whilst resting his chin on his hand which was propped up by his elbow on the table. Zim also didn't want to get annoyed, since it was Dib's idea to come to this place anyway. So, couldn't complain really.

The fork stopped, already dug into the next piece of waffle and Dib looked up to Zim. Just now he realized what he was actually doing. Stealing Zim's waffles! Well... just two bite.

And when he saw the Irken's face, so calm and smiling, Dib couldn't help but smiling back, his face heating up at seeing that smug expression the other was giving him.

"Umm... yeah. I saw it and couldn't resist... your waffle, I mean! Heh. And it's really yummy, taste it." Lifting the fork with another piece of caramel-drunken waffle on it, Dib held it in front of Zim's mouth.

Now with a fork in front of his face, Zim sat up straight and gave a confused look towards Dib. What was he doing anyway? He scanned the waffle piece in front of him, checking for anything out of the ordinary. Maybe the human was trying to show him something? Nope... Nothing strange. Looking back up, the Irken saw that Dib's face was now slightly red, as it so commonly was recently, and had a smile.

After awhile of thinking, he finally understood what the other meant. His face also turned a shade darker. Rolling his eyes, he leaned forward and took the food. And after a moment, his mouth finally registered the taste, and instantly his eyes grew wider, just as Dib's did moments ago.

"You're right!" He simply stated, after finishing the piece. It was like paradise, but in food form! Much better than anything he'd tasted before.

Dib's smile only grew when Zim was really eating the piece from his outstretched fork. After some seconds of strange silence. Still, although he didn't know why he did it in the first place, the situation reminded him again of an date. Like they were a couple, 'feeding' each other and starring into the other's eyes while doing so.

'Oh boy, what I am thinking!?' He thought a bit desperately and was quickly rewarded with more red, until his tomato-Dib face was back in full action. Also, there was the name-thingy... "Yeah, told you so... but now, you have to eat by yourself ya' know," he added, if it wasn't obvious.

"By the way, why didn't y-you attach something...a nickname or so to my normal name just now? I instantly noticed it, because, I-I don't remember hearing it from you b-before... N-Not that I'm complaining, no... actually it sounds... nice. Different."

Rubbing his neck, he unsurely looked down to his chocolate bars and took a bite. Oh, it was good! Not as sweet as the waffle, but so full of... chocolate-taste. Warm, liquid. Like sauce in his mouth.

Zim just simply shrugged at the question which soon followed. "I don't know... Just sounded more serious, and it doesn't seem right adding insults anymore." He admitted, picking up a fork which was next to him and beginning to poke at the waffle.

To be honest, he just thought it had suited the moment more. And he didn't want to add 'friend' to the end at the moment... Maybe that's why the other humans had looked at them weirdly... Perhaps they had heard and found it odd. But then again... It really didn't feel natural to say just 'Dib'... Not to him at least. Plus it sounded weird to him, so the nicknames were coming back as soon as they were out of ear shot.

"Just don't get used to it. You're still 'Dib-beast' to me," he added, smirking slightly, before returning his gaze to the waffle. "Oh, and your face is red again." Well, as if the other didn't know that already. That colour would probably glow in the dark if it was possible!

After a few more pokes, Zim finally took another piece off the treat and began to eat it; enjoying the taste even more than before.

That comment about being a 'beast' didn't help at all at calming down. Sure, he heard it often in the past, but back then he knew how it was meant. It expressed Zim's hate towards him. But now they were friends and automatically the meaning of 'Dib-beast' changed. At least for him.

Suddenly he thought about it in so many wrong ways... Images of himself, licking and nibbling at Zim's green skin and being flush pressed against the Irken popped up.

Maybe that's why his head was so big. Full of crazy stuff and a weird imagination. Curse his blooming fantasy! But it wasn't unpleasant, thinking about it that way. Being a beast, wanting to taste Zim's flesh... Well, that was mostly Dib's 'other side'. And nobody but Zim was able to activate it. In fact, Dib didn't know he got something like that, before he became friends with the most amazing and annoying green thing in the universe.

After some more moments of 'pictures' in his head, Dib was suddenly aware how silent he was... AGAIN!

"...O-okay. To be honest, I like that too. In the past you always gave me another nickname, depending on the situation. Let it be Dib-human, Dib-thing or Dib-worm... But now it's mostly just Dib-human o-or, what I like the most D-Dib-friend... heh it... it sounds weird t-to say them by myself. It suits you more, I think."

His mood changed a bit from embarrassment to a more playful one. Coming up with own names for the Irken he said: "Hmm... Zim-friend, Zim-Irken, Zim-alien?... Nooo. Well, that sounds weird! Nope, you're staying Zim for me... or Spaceboy. Maybe sometimes, when you're cute... you're Zimmy! Amazing Zimmy, purring and squeaking beneath the Dib-beast." He announced and laughed out loud, but not too much.

Still, it was fascinating, how fast and easily his moods could change from awkward to cheerful, happy. He was already munching the next piece of, half-liquid chocolate bar. Sooo delicious!

Now on his third mouthful of waffle, Zim listened to what Dib had to say, and those last few sentences almost made him choke on his food. Immediately his face turned a dark green and he jerked slightly in his seat.

Sure the first set of nicknames were kind of funny and weird sounding; having his name attached to things. But the last two statements, no! Only one word for them. Embarrassing.

"Z-Zim does no such t-things!" He protested, avoiding Dib's gaze... And the other's laughing was not helping!

The same pair of humans from earlier were now staring, confused, at the laughing Dib. Zim lifted up a finger and rotated it in the air towards them, as if to say 'turn around', whilst glaring again. Probably didn't look that threatening this time, due to his blush. But still, it worked.

Memories of the past few days popped back into his mind though, of their 'cuddle sessions'. Yesterday's particularly... Their contest, how Dib had spoken to him, and his face- Ugh! Zim leant back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Sometimes you're annoying... You know that?" He mumbled, blush increasing with every second...

The Irken's reaction was priceless! That blush and mumbling. It was mean from Dib, but hilarious nonetheless. He decided, if he should stop or not... No. It was too plain funny. It seemed that mostly either Dib or Zim was embarrassed while the other was laughing or amused. So the boy tried to make Zim laugh.

"You mean as often as you're cute? That's right. And you totally did that stuff... a-and I really liked it, so there's no need to be embarrassed. Maybe I went a liiiiittle bit too far. But you ARE amazing, Zim!" He replied, still chuckling here and there.

After taking another bite of his treat, he stood up and sat beside Zim, more serious now. "Heh. Listen, Zim... It was only meant to be a joke. B-But it's so nice to see you like this. Don't be grumpy, 'kay?"

When noticing Dib stand up, Zim thought that maybe he shouldn't have mentioned the 'annoying' comment. Maybe he'd offended him in some way, and so much that he was leaving? No. He was just moving seats... Next to him!

Yet, he wasn't teasing anymore. It was actually more like a apology than anything.

Zim wanted to say something back, something to make the human feel embarrassed this time; but thinking of nothing, just sighed. "Fine, just get back to your own seat." He said, smiling slightly and pointing to the chair Dib originally had been sitting in, opposite him. Honestly he didn't mind the other sitting there, it's just it was difficult to talk to someone when you have to keep turning your head to see them and their reactions. Plus, the other being close again made his insides twist again for an unknown reason...

But when noticing no movement from Dib, Zim decided that maybe he needed some encouragement. So, putting both his hands on the other's side, he pushed, trying to get him to move. "Come on, move!" He commanded when seeing that it wasn't really having any affect.

Well, to say the least Dib wasn't expecting Zim touching him...there! It was so sudden it tickled quite a lot. "H-Hey... stop!... It tickles...O-okay, okay, I'm moving." Grabbing Zim's hand, he put them on the other's lap and made his ways to the opposite side. Normally, he would have just tickled back, but luckily he noticed soon enough they're were in a public place.

Time for that at the base... Smirking smugly again, thinking Zim accepted his 'apology', he got a bit teasing again. "Just wait, until we're back at home, then I'll see if you would still shove me away." He said 'home' like it was his own house, not just Zim's base. It totally felt like home, more than his original one.

"The sleep-over isn't over yet, so there's plenty of time, to 'annoy' you even more, heh... Zimmy." He grinned with half-lidded eyes at his Irken and took the last few bites of his treat. But the last one was reserved for Zim. "By the way, try my chocolate bars. They're not so sweet, more...just taste it yourself," he said rather casually, like nothing happened. Thinking it was rather cute how Zim ate the waffle from his fork, he did he same gesture, this time with a piece of half-melted chocolate inside a crispy dough mantle.

The first thing which caught Zim's attention from what Dib had just said, was the word 'home' he used, in replacement for 'base'... Even he didn't use that word for his own base. The other must really find it comfortable there if he could just casually name it home. But still, it made Zim smile to know that. To know that Dib liked it at the base.

But then again, his real home wasn't that good. Well, what he'd heard and seen of it at least. The human's sister was plain evil and treated Dib quite badly, and his Parental unit, 'The Famous Professor Membrane' was never there. ...Maybe that was another reason Dib seemed quite happy to be asked to do this 'sleepover'. Because he didn't like his own home much. Well, he wasn't going to ask. It may be a sensitive subject... Maybe later.

His thoughts got distracted by another piece of food being shoved in front of his face. This time being the human's chocolate bar though. Zim inspected it for a moment, wondering why he couldn't just feed himself... It was almost embarrassing, like being treated as a young human child. But, the other seemed to not mind. So, opening his mouth, he took the food and began to chew. It was a whole different flavour to the waffle, but just as good. Well, if all foods tasted the same, it'd just be boring. "It's pretty good. Your Earth food isn't that bad after all," he stated, almost feeling like a food critic.

"As long as it's sweet enough, you surely would like it," he teased and snatched the last two bits of waffle from Zim's plate. Obviously, the Irken ate quite a lot of it in no time. After he swallowed it, Dib took a long sip of his lemonade and leaned back in his seat, lightly tapping his belly. "Man, that was delicious..." He sighed and closed his eyes.

It was weird, but he already looked forward to go 'home' again. It just felt right to think about Zim's base as his home. After merely 3 days! The place where he constantly tried to sneak in to take pictures and put spy cameras overall. And when he got in, he was always amazed at seeing all this alien technology inside. At least the underground labs, since the living room looked appeared pretty 'normal'. But everything regarding Zim was so un-normal, so different...

Peeking an eye open to inspect his Irken, he smiled fondly at him and after some moments, Dib stretched a bit and quickly emptied his cup of lemonade. "Ahh, yes. I'm feeling much better now. Sugar brings you so much energy."

It was only right to let Dib have the last two pieces of the waffle, since he had shared his chocolate bar with him. And it was only when Zim saw the other take a drink from one of the cans that he actually remembered they were there. Reaching forward, he picked up one and began to read the label.

He always found the packaging on Earth food quite interesting. For example, they just had all the ingredients just there for anyone to read. On places such as Foodcourtia, if you found a recipe or created one, you kept hold of it. But no, these human companies just slap them on a can and ship them around the world... Stupid really.

Cautiously opening the lid, first thing that Zim saw, was water. No, it was bubbling... Must be that lemonade stuff he usually saw in the background on adverts they show on TV during Summer. He hadn't had one in a while, but Zim remembered that they were also extremely sweet and one of the few drinks which didn't burn. Yet, he decided against drinking it, wanting to keep the taste of their previous treats for awhile longer.

So instead, just continued to read the can whilst replying. "Well yes, sugar is one of the few good things you humans have discovered on your planet. But then again, we Irkens found the equivalent to Earth sugar before your planet was formed," he said, showing off slightly with that fact.

"Even before our planet was formed!? Well, I guess I just have to believe that. But this says nothing; you Irkens are just lucky to be there billions of years before us humans. But still... it's fascinating." Rubbing his neck nervously, Dib added: "It's weird, since ya' know... I'm more interested about you, Zim. Your person, your character. I want to know more about you than about your race in general. Despite all that cool technology equivalent of sugar."

It almost sounded like a confession to Dib, but felt like Zim should know that, if he didn't already do... Thinking about all this, he just wanted to be close to Zim again, not sitting opposite him. Dib emotions, his 'other side' was more and more playing tricks with him.

"Luck has nothing to do with it," said a now grinning Zim. He was just happy to be able to show off about something to do with his race. Since he hadn't talked about them for awhile. Though after a while, the Irken's grin turned into a confused half-smile.

He'd always thought that Dib was more interested in the whole Irken race, not just him... So it was a bit of a shock for him to hear that. Yet, it was somehow almost a compliment too, especially coming from someone like Dib.

"Well, Zim is amazing, what more is there to know?" He asked, smugly smiling at his self-compliment.

But, all joking aside... He actually felt quite happy to know that Dib wasn't just interested in a 'alien species'... But him particular... And this time not as an 'experiment ready for dissection'. No. As a friend.

There was that self-assured, proud smile again. Dib knew it oh so very well from the past, but now he liked it. Probably there was a good reason, since Irkens really were superior. However, when it comes down to Zim alone... that pure amazement about a highly technological alien race turned into curiosity and fascination about Zim in special! About all the things which made Zim... well, Zim. Still so exotic and foreign, but yet also very familiar, as an enemy first and now as a friend.

"D-Do you think it was luck we met in the first place? I-I mean... without your banishment, you would still be on your home-planet or travelling through the universe, conquering stuff... While I would probably getting along better with my family and classmates... s-since I would have ended my paranormal interests after a while. You know what I mean? This banishment... is the key incident in both our lives. It changed everything." After some seconds of silence, he was finally aware of the things he said.

Dib looked down at his lap and mumbled. "Man, I got a talent to instantly change the mood, didn't I? From awkward, to funny, to meaningful and depressed. Sometimes, things are just popping up in his mind, building up on itself and suddenly spilling out of his mouth. Odd."

As soon as the word 'banishment' became present, Zim jerked slightly, causing the open can which he had been inspecting to fall to the ground. Instantly the Irken leant down and picked it back up, before too much of the liquid poured onto the floor, whilst silently cursing. Good job he hadn't been intending to drink from it anyway. He decided to put it on the table for the time being, so as not to ruin anything else.

During all this, he continued to listen to what Dib was saying, mentally giving his opinions. Zim had been trying to forget about this subject, but it had to be spoken about now... Yet, somehow, the human seemed to put it in a good light. Positive. Which he didn't think was actually possible to do.

"Maybe, more possibly chance though. When we first met, it could have possibly even been called a 'curse', but now, yeah, it seems more like luck... And that 'talent' of yours isn't a bad thing, Dib-human."

Rather shy now, Dib replied: "W-Well, I never saw it as a curse, since in the beginning I saw you as the proof, that my beliefs in aliens and paranormal stuff was right all along. As a chance to show to my... my environment that I wasn't crazy. Anyway, you all know that already. The funny part is, now I don't really care what 'they' think about me. I got you now. A real friend... w-who likes me despite my 'crazyness', or rather...heh, maybe BECAUSE of that. M-Maybe that makes me so... 'interesting' as you said? All this years I-I felt so... unnoticed, but suddenly we became friends and now I got more attention than I ever hoped for." Dib smiled warmly at Zim, already neon red again. "Wow, now that sounds cheesy."

Following an ambiguous urge, Dib added. "And if you like that 'talent' let's go home to see if I got other 'talents' I could show you too..." It was so funny to tease Zim and seeing that clueless, confused face he was making afterwards.

Strangely, Zim now felt quite sorry for Dib... Just for how long was he considered the 'crazy kid', even before he arrived on Earth? ...Long enough to not have any friends it seemed. It was rather sad to think that the human's own race didn't even want to know him. Even he, when a smeet -young child to the humans- had a few Irkens who didn't mind his company. But Dib seemed hated by most when he arrived...

And Zim's presence clearly didn't help the matter... If anything, made it worse.

The colour of the other's face soon distracted him from those rather unpleasant thoughts though. Most conversations caused at least one of their faces to turn 'glow-in-the-dark' it seemed. This time he hadn't said anything to embarrass the human though... Had he? Not that he could recall at least.

"The human has other talents? Like what?" Zim asked, confused again... But Dib seemed quite amused by his own words... Maybe it was a joke of some kind and not a real statement? He didn't know... 'Human humour...' He mentally whined.

There was it again, that clueless, innocent face of Zim's! Dib couldn't help himself, but continue with his 'jokes'. Maybe he should teach his friend about human humour and sarcasm. Nyah. It was too funny to tease him even more.

So, resting his chin into a hand, Dib's smile grew as he looked almost dreamily at Zim (for the umpteenth time). "Well, they're mostly about cuddling. Ya' know, I think I got a good talent to make you speechless or -way better- purring..."

Every time, Dib was so fascinated at how strongly affected Zim was by his small touches and kisses. Sometimes even a certain look. But Dib couldn't blame him, since Zim could be also so...tempting. For a brief moment, the boy closed his amber eyes and thought about their contest again... He shuddered in delight, but quickly pulled himself together, opened his eyes and grinned dreamily at his Irken.

Knowing the face that Dib was pulling all too well now, Zim instantly knew what was coming, either a gloat, or more teasing... And sure enough, it was the teasing.

Immediately after hearing those words, Zim's face flared up a dark green once again. He backed up in his chair and crossed his arms in a defensive manner. "Y-You have no such t-talents!" He protested through clenched teeth; being far too embarrassed to speak normally.

Though, no matter how much complaining or denial he made, it wouldn't change the fact that the human did in fact have that 'talent'. Annoying as it may be, it was true. And there was no way he could deny that mentally... Verbally yes, but in his mind Zim knew the truth. The annoying part was however, that he didn't know whether that was good or bad... Maybe neither or even something in the middle? Who knows. One thing was for sure though, he wouldn't have it any other way. Those moments with Dib were so weird, yet so... 'right', that it almost seemed acceptable between them now.

Now Dib was asking himself if he was maybe going a bit too far with his teasing, seeing how embarrassed Zim was getting. That green blush and denying were total proof, but also so funny to watch. And some more playful teasing wouldn't hurt Zim, right?

"Is that so, Zim? Then tell me, how I won our little contest...? Yeah, tickling. You're so ticklish, Zimmy. It was the last escape for me, since...ya' know... your long, ridged tongue trapped me quite well in place. But I won and my prize was... purring! How neat..."

Dib didn't like seeing that crossed arms of Zim's, so he just reached forward and stole Zim's hand and sandwiched it between his own two hands, gently rubbing slender claw-like fingers. "But that doesn't mean, you don't have a similar talent to make me... f-feel so different...Zim..."

Hearing even more coming from the human's mouth, Zim only grew even more and more embarrassed... But this time it was worse, since he had nothing to argue with. Dib had won fair and square -another weird expression- and there was no way to convince either of them otherwise... So for now, the Irken just sat there, mouth slightly open, trying to think of what to say.

Denying that Dib had won was out of the question, and so was denying that he had purred in the first place... Now he was really stuck. Yet, after awhile, he felt his hand being taken and trapped between the other's pair. And the words which followed soon pushed away all ideas for excuses.

"Is that good or bad...?" Zim asked, slightly worried that 'different' was meant in a bad way. Either way though, that meant that they both had an affect on the other. Be that good or bad, he didn't know, but it was there.

It was hard for Dib not to go over there and hug Zim so tight he won't even get another breath. But he decided against it... Back at the base, at home, were enough opportunities to squeeze the hell out of the Irken. So, smiling would do it for now.

Lightly brushing his fingertips against Zim's palm, Dib happily replied. "Oh, Zim!... You truly are amazing! If it would be a bad feeling, I wouldn't be here with you right now. No. It's a very nice, unexplainable kind of 'different'. T-That's actually the reason I wanna cuddle with you so much. Even if it... well, annoys you sometimes I guess..." He said the last part a bit ashamed of himself. Because, sometimes he felt that he was pushing things too much. Overrunning Zim with his 'affection' and all the touches... But otherwise, if so, Zim would have just said it, right? Dib hoped so.

He really wasn't a 'pervert' or something. No way. He just... never felt like this. It was all so new and good to feel.

Zim let out a slight sigh of relief at hearing that, glad to hear that it was good and not effecting their friendship is anyway. But then again, maybe it was, but just not in a way he expected... It had been said many a time that 'friends don't do this', yet they did 'this' many a time. Several now, and each time, neither of them minded.

Zim only got embarrassed when Dib brought it back up in these moments, and it was worse this time since it was in public and someone could maybe somehow over hear... Oh how embarrassing that would be... For both of them! Yet no-one had heard, thankfully. But the way that the human seemed almost ashamed at his last sentence, Zim felt slightly guilty and found the need to say something.

"It doesn't annoy Zim, it's just e-embarrassing when you bring it back up... I... I actually l-like it, sort of..." He admitted, now tracing out all the marks on the table with his free hand.

Of course, Dib knew that Zim was liking their cuddling and kissing in some way... But hearing it from Zim's mouth with his meek voice and that dark green colour in the face... Well, to say the least it was literally heart-warming. His heart actually ached, like it was slowly being squeezed. In such a weird way. But good! He wasn't used to hearing someone say he liked his company, even 'things' he did to that someone.

One thing was for sure, Dib wanted to hear more of it... more of Zim's admittings. It was adorable. To see his Irken friend like this, so embarrassed, but so... happy too!

"S-So, you like it when I just hold your hand o-or... when I hug you or... umm when I stroke y-your antennae...? When we're cuddling shirtless...yeah..." Dib blushed even more after every word he spoke and his day-dreaming face returned at mentioning the cuddling.

With every example the human gave, Zim simply replied with a 'yes', though it took a lot more courage than someone would think to admit something like that. Especially since he'd never had to admit anything of that kind to anyone before until now. Plus, he never did like expressing his opinion on anything, well, unless it was bad, then he found no greater satisfaction than to insult something until he ran out of insults... Which wasn't quickly, that was for sure.

But, this time is was positive, and it was embarrassing to do so. Most people turn their embarrassment into shyness, but for Zim it was frustration, and maybe a hint of anger... So instead of tracing pre-made marks on the table, began to carve his own. "I just said I did, didn't I? So why the need to repeat?"

After each one of the others 'yes', Dib normally would squeal and giggle like a child, but... seeing Zim's seriously embarrassed face, which was so dark green now... and the forced tone with which he answered... made Dib feel a little bit guilty.

'Did I make him really that uncomfortable admitting that he liked all that...stuff?' Sure, it was rather unlike Zim, but Dib didn't expect it was such an delicate matter. Otherwise, if you really thought about, what they'd do... It totally was! So instead of squealing and giggling, Dib dropped his gaze and played with his fingers, which were no longer connected with Zim's hand.

"S-Sorry, Zim... for making you, ya' know... so embarrassed. I-I really shouldn't have forced you to admit it out loud... I already know you kind of liked it." At the last part, a small smile crept upon the boy's face again. But just for a brief moment.

"It's mean... t-to do this. So you don't have to admit a-anything you don't want to. Or... just shut me up, when I'm babbling this way again." 'Maybe with a kiss...' his brain couldn't help but suggest.

Now with half the table covered in cuts and the other looking like new, Zim decided to stop before it became too obvious to the next people who sat here. It looked like someone had just dragged the table through a gravel filled street which only one side protected. Oh well. In Zim's opinion it actually looked better somehow.

"Yes... Just be thankful you don't end up with the same fate the table did," he said, smirking slightly. Of course he didn't mean it, but thought it was only right to tease Dib right back after all that.

Yet, that was more of a threat than anything... Ugh.

"I didn't mean it the way it sounded..." He mumbled, not wanting the human to think that he was back to threatening him. No, he wasn't going to do that again. Zim just wasn't used to 'friendly teasing'... only threats were his style. 'Stupid...' He mentally repeated over and over.

And indeed, Dib was a bit scared at that threat, even...or rather because of the smile Zim made. Still... it was odd, but in the past he would've really frightened, knowing Zim could be VERY serious when he wanted! But still he would fight him, threatening back and preventing himself from being scratched. But in this moment, quite the opposite happened.

Automatically, Dib's eyes wandered over the table's surface Zim worked on...

He was lying shirtless under Zim, who was sitting on his stomach and smugly smirked down at him... Zim leaned down and lightly scratched his claws all over the boy's pale torso. His sides, chest, even his neck. Green claws left -not too deep, but still visible- scratches on Dib's nice human skin. All the while he enjoyed with closed eyes the feeling of being 'marked' by the hands of his Irken...

Suddenly, he was back in reality and hastily opened his eyes. "What happened..." He said and felt incredible hot. Not only his face... Looking at the scratched table again, he was suddenly aware of what he imagined just now! As if his head wasn't already red like a freshly painted fire hydrant, it only got darker...

Avoiding Zim's gaze at all costs, Dib hid his face with his hands. 'STUPID BRAIN!... WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?!' He almost screamed out loud, but luckily in stayed a mental scream.

Noticing the day-dream look return to Dib's face again, Zim knew that trying to snap him out of it usually didn't work, so waiting was needed. So, leaning back in his seat, he watched the human whilst thoughts began to make their way into his head.

About Dib mostly...

In the past, he'd always thought of him as a 'stinky, repulsive, stupid human'... But really, he wasn't that bad looking and was in fact quite smart... Well, for a human at least. His features seemed to make up for his huge head. His eyes mostly... They were something else entirely. The first thing on Earth that he actually found beautiful. A mixture of golden yellow and light brown...-

What!? No... He wasn't thinking that again... ...Obviously he was.

But before Zim could mentally complain again, he noticed those previously mentioned eyes open, and a couple of words become present too. "What do you mean? Nothing happened. Well, apart from you spacing out again..." He explained, slightly concerned now... Dib's face looked like it was about to explode from being so red...

But he only got a quick view, since soon that face got hidden by hands. "The question is, what happened to YOU? You look like you just ran a marathon..." He pointed out, moving his head to try and see the human's face again, before adding: "Are you okay?"

Now words seemed more appropriate than some Zim said before. "N-Nothing... just... stupid thoughts, very stupid actually..." Dib left it at that and took a deep breath. Saying out aloud what he thought would make not only him, but especially Zim so mega embarrassed...

Well, they already enjoyed shirtless cuddling, but the feeling he got from only imagining that 'scratchy' treatment from Zim, was another grade... a sexual one! Dib didn't actually know why he would like to be scratched, more or less deep, by Zim. Surely, it would hurt a lot, regarding the claws the Irken had. But then again... it was in a odd way...erotic... Yeah, erotic. Dib was now quite desperate and whined out of frustration.

Taking his hands away from his face, he grabbed Zim's hand again and looked pleadingly at his friend. "C-Could we just go back home...I-I mean, to the base? Not for too long... I just wanna t-think a bit." And maybe... just maybe, it would help to tell Zim what he just 'dreamed'. It wasn't about Zim in the first place...well, not something what happened in reality, neither a reaction Zim did, like purring or moaning. Dib only wanted to speak with his friend about his 'problems'. That's what friends are for, right? And he forced Zim to tell him... stuff, so it was only fair Dib did the same. Yes, he made his decision. In the right moment, he would tell the Irken. He just hoped it wasn't too weird for Zim.

The almost begging look on the other's face said it all really. That Dib really wanted to go back to the base... Maybe thinking in public was difficult for him? Well, privacy was good too, a lot more than people staring at you, that was for sure. Plus, the stuttering wasn't a good sign either. The human must really be nervous. But why, was the question. "Sure..." Zim replied, nodding slightly.

He could tell that Dib was frustrated with something... And he wanted to know, but didn't want to ask, not in public at least. Maybe that was another reason he wanted to go back? To be able to speak without worrying if others will hear. Zim knew that he, himself, didn't like talking with others around... Too many people listen in to your conversations... Or maybe he just felt comfortable at the base?

'Stop thinking of possibilities! It won't help,' he mentally scolded.

"Do you want to go now then...?" He asked, getting ready to stand up.

Since he already paid the food, Dib just wanted to go back... being alone with Zim. Standing up, he snatched Zim's hand and walked out of the building with him. He was slightly relieved to be outside again. It was odd. A few minutes ago, he enjoyed himself to tease Zim, not really caring about the public environment. But since he got this dream, his brain told him to go back to the base, doing 'stuff' with Zim.

He blamed his hormones, since he was in the middle of his puberty. He was barely 17 after all... They both walked as silently as before, back to their home. Just from seeing scratches on a wooden table, made by Zims claws made Dib feel so...excited. Well, all the previous talk about kissing and cuddling played the main role. Luckily, Dib got some of his rational mind still in work, so he was worried it would scare Zim, if he would just yield his... desire.

So, biting his lip, he tightly squeezed Zim's hand and scooted closer to him, until their shoulder touched. It was dangerous... DIB was dangerous! Laughing in one moment, crying in the next and then...getting kinda aroused at dreaming about Zim and... stuff. All this mood swings were frustrating him so much, especially because he wasn't really able to control them.

Obviously that was a yes then. First thing that Zim noticed once they were both outside, was the warmer temperature in the air. Probably since the sun was higher up in the sky than it was earlier. Or, it could have been the slightly awkward moment between them... Dib wanting to get back, and Zim wondering why. The silence between them wasn't helping...

A few cars past and there was noise for a few seconds, but then returned back to the silence, filled with silent footsteps. A few times Zim went to say something, but decided against it, since it was probably off topic or just plain stupid sounding. Most of them were questions, but many he'd heard 3-year-old children ask... So no way was he asking them.

All the while, he was watching both their feet come in and out of his view as they walked, and soon noticed that Dib's feet were moving closer, and after a while he felt their shoulders meet. That and his hand get squeezed quite tightly.

Zim turned his head so he could see Dib's face, but all he saw was him looking straight ahead, and sort of nervous. He returned his gaze back to their feet, knowing that staring wasn't going to help anything, but decided to ask. "Are you sure you're okay Dib-friend?" He asked, now adding the nicknames, since no-one was there to overhear.

The fact that Zim asked again showed Dib, how worried the Irken actually was. No, saying a second time he was okay would just be 'not right'. Obviously he wasn't, since even Zim was able to see it, being quite clueless about emotional human stuff. Staring ahead, he replied.

"To be honest, Zim... No, I'm not. M-My brain constantly... disobeys m-me. Like I told you before... it's like a spell. I-I can't prevent those pictures coming into my head, a-and immediately I get... I-I get excited and... a-aroused...I'm so ashamed of myself, but then again... I really like thinking about that." Dib tightly shut his eyes and kept walking. He was sweating so much right now, and not because of the heat...

Taking some deep breaths, he slowly opened his hazel eyes again and saw that they were almost there. The base. Home... A tiny smile crept onto Dib's face. "Let us rest a bit, kay? J-just lying on the bed, talking and... ya' know." Thinking about the imminent privacy, and... intimate moments with Zim was helping to calm him down a bit, despite THAT thoughts and feelings were the origin of his frustration. And mostly plain confusion.

'Oh, so it's his thoughts which are the problem...' Zim thought, finally understanding the situation. Yeah, Dib had mentioned this before... So it was happening again that meant. And if it was his brain which was also connected to the problem, then there wasn't much they could really do, was there? ...Unfortunately not.

A machine of some kind would be far too dangerous... Zim had learnt that human brains were incredibly fragile and unpredictable. There was no telling what could happen. Anyway, he wouldn't want to mess with Dib's brain, not like he did years ago with a microscopic ship. No, that almost ended in disaster... Well, Zim didn't think so at the time, but imagine if that plan had worked! Ugh... Dib would be nothing more than a mindless zombie right now.

"Okay," he agreed, nodding, once they'd arrived back. He decided to just leave the matter at that, until they got inside. Turning the door handle, the door opened to reveal a still empty and quiet building. No GIR to be seen, thankfully.

As soon as they both were inside and the door was closed, Dib couldn't hold it any longer... He threw his arms around Zim's neck and kissed him furiously, needing to taste the Irken's lips so badly. After some licks, Dib's tongue shot into the other's mouth and tried to catch the long, ridged snake in there. It wasn't easy.

Zim's saliva tasted so much like caramel-waffles, mixed with the original Irken taste. It was even better than the waffle itself. Sweet and... Irken! All the while, Dib pressed himself flush against Zim and rubbed their upper halves together. It was crazy; such desire washed over him, no control was left.

Feeling a strange warmth around his neck, Zim turned to look at Dib and found that it was in fact the human's arms. But before any questions could be asked, his mouth soon met the human's one. Zim let out a shocked noise, not expecting any of this as soon as they reached the base... He wasn't complaining, just surprised!

At the feel of the other's tongue enter his mouth, he squirmed slightly, still not used to the sensation, and the shocks going down his back weren't helping. These moments between them both were different, but pleasant. For both of them. And they seemed to be becoming more 'normal' over time.

Zim noticed what Dib was trying to do, so used his own tongue to try and wrap around the human's one also. Another battle it seemed. Whilst all this, took hold of the front of Dib's shirt with both hands, wanting something to hold onto.

Feeling Zim's tongue around his own, he got instantly remembered of their battle last night... And the same rush of 'something' exploded inside of him. He cringed at the feeling, and gripped Zim's shoulders, forcing himself to stop. Finally, after some struggling seconds and tongue wraps, he parted their mouths and panted heavily.

His wide eyes glistened and burnt with a unknown fire in them... Dib gulped and tried to calm down a little bit. "...Z-Zim...I-I don't know... what came over me, r-really! I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't want to...to raid you with my... t-touches. But those pictures...those fantasises in my stupid, stupid head! They ain't going away..." About to break down completely, he slumped against the Irken, so he loosely draped his arms around Zim's neck again, more for support this time.

"S-Sorry... y-you're not my mate, Zim...but still... it feels so..s-so..." He desperately mumbled the last part while resting his suddenly very heavy head on the other's shoulder. His eyes were wet, but... at least he did not cry in front of Zim again.


	36. Chapter 36

**Yay! There it is. Probably the most fluffy and certainly the most awkward chapter by now xD ****And a big thanks to my Co-writer EmilyTheKittyCat (deviantart) for editing the chapters. All my typos in the original ... jeez^^ Too many.**

**Enjoy!**

Now with an extremely upset Dib on his shoulder, Zim wrapped his arms around the human's torso and hugged him tightly. He hated seeing his friend so stressed... Especially since he was part of the problem. It also didn't help how he wasn't used to dealing with human emotions either. Only anger and hate he was used to. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying to help the other.

So, reaching up a hand, Zim began to play with the human's hair once again, hoping it may calm him slightly. "No need to apologize. Like you said, it's not your fault. It's your brain, right?" He said, lightly knocking on Dib's head before continuing.

"And your head isn't that stupid, it can't be if your personality is stored up there. Well, that's your brain isn't it? But, it's still considered as your head..." Zim sighed slightly. He really wasn't helping the matter...

"All I'm trying to say is, don't be upset, okay?" He finished, returning both hands to the hug and tightening it.

Dib listened to Zim's speech, while he took several deep breaths, in and out, to calm him down. But what mostly calmed him down were the Irken's kind and concerned words. It was an incredible, lovely feeling to know he was wanted. To know that Zim cared... so much actually! It was sad, since he didn't remember feeling that way when he was with his father or Gaz. This was the first time he felt this way.

He quietly whimpered against Zim's neck and, out of instinct, gave it an affectionate lick. Enjoying the other's tight hug and the combing claws in his hair, Dib closed his eyes and huddled against his Irken. He still felt so hot and tingly, but now he wasn't upset and confused anymore. In that moment, he just basked in the oh so very nice tingling in his belly and the squeezing in his chest-area or rather his heart. When he spoke again, his voice wasn't hoarse and nervous anymore. Only soft and relaxed.

"O-Okay. As long as you hold me... l-like now, I will just be happy, standing here and such...a-and thanks for your nice words, Zim. Really, they mean so much for m-me." And with that, he gave green skin another swift lick, before smiling to himself and put one arm around Zim's waist, gently rubbing it.

Noticing the whimper from Dib made Zim slightly worried. Had his talk really not worked? He wouldn't surprised. He really wasn't good at this emotional stuff. Especially if it was negative. But the feeling of the other's tongue on his neck for a brief moment said something at least, yet caused a shiver from him to become present. Plus, the calm tone in Dib's voice was reassuring to hear. Maybe he wasn't so bad at this after all?

"Well what else was I meant to do? Watch you becoming upset? No way," he said, trying to get his point across without saying it in words; that in truth he did care. But of course would never say that. It wasn't like him to express something like that, and he wasn't going to start either. He still had some dignity left. Not a lot, but some. But then again, who would have all their dignity left after purring, becoming friends with a human -not that it was a bad thing-, cuddling, getting... banished, and admitting quite a lot of information. ...Probably not many people, if not anyone! Yet Dib didn't seem to mind any of them, and neither did Zim. Even the banishment so much after Dib had put such a good light on it earlier.

"Silly human emotions," he stated, after a moment of silence between them both.

Dib couldn't help but agree with Zim's last statement. Sometimes, they really get annoying. Emotions... But still, they were also the reason he was feeling so... so relaxed and happy in this moment. In Zim's arms. Slowly, Dib learned that emotions got two different sides. Worst feelings and best ones too. And in the course of the last 3 days, he felt both sides, but mostly the good ones. Being with Zim. Cuddling. Kissing. It all caused that nice tingling. Sometimes only in his belly, sometimes all over his body, especially during the shirtless cuddling.

Soon, it was getting hard to stand, since Dib felt too relaxed to keep his legs from wobbling, So. "W-Would you mind, if we sit on the couch...? So we can better...umm... talk, yeah." It was obvious that Dib really was intending to do and he knew that, but he didn't want to look like a weirdo in Zim's eyes. Well, more than already. A weirdo, who just wanna touch and kiss and cuddle. But it was the main thing on Dib's mind right now.

Somehow, he felt like he should give Zim some kind of 'reward' for being so nice and caring. Zim just tried to make him feel better and that alone made Dib happy. Yes, they were true friends. Very special ones. The boy felt this way like never before. So he gave the Irken one last lick, before he slowly pulled back and led Zim by his hand to the couch.

"Sure," was Zim's simple reply as they were walking towards the couch. Well, no matter what his answer it seemed like they were going to sit down anyway. He didn't mind though of course, sitting down would really be a lot easier to be able to talk.

Once they were both sat down, Zim moved his gaze around the room... It sure was quiet without GIR or Minimoose... Come to think of it, he hadn't seen that moose for a few days now... Oh well, happened most of the time. Always turns up eventually. But GIR was constantly around, and it was odd to actually be able to hear yourself think. Maybe he should invite the human round more often; since it gave him an excuse to kick the robot out for awhile without any complaints.

Leaning back, he put his hands behind his head and shut his eyes. Silence was definitely welcome, but then again sometimes unwanted too. It could bring awkward moments, but not this time. Well, for him at least. "You hear that?" Zim asked, and after a few moments of no reply, he continued. "Silence. No GIR. No annoying robot!" He finished, opening his eyes and smiling whilst sitting up straight again. It was then that he remembered Dib had wanted to talk. Maybe about something particular?

"So, what did you want to talk about?" He asked, turning his head to face the other.

Indeed. It was quiet. And Dib was very glad for it. Because they would surely need it for a meaningful talk or even...cuddling. But first, he took off his glasses, so the Irken could see his eyes better.

"Zim, I...I wanna talk about the... weird thoughts I get, when I look at you long enough. L-like back at the diner." Rubbing is neck, he shuffled closer to Zim on his knees and carefully put both hands on one of the other's legs. Now the boy looked down again, regarding his next words.

"When you scratched the table...w-with your claws, immediately an image appeared in my mind. We...-" Gulping "-w-we were both shirtless on the bed...I-I laid on my back and y-you... sat on my stomach, while you scratched...a-at my chest, leaving visible marks a-all over my chest. A-and... and I was... I-I was moaning your name and squirming. I enjoyed how you were...marking me... That was actually the reason why I was...away for some moments, just staring ahead. B-But the thing is... it felt s-so... erotic... to think about it. I-I felt some kind of l-lust bubbling up in my belly. It's so strange!.. I-I shouldn't feel this way! We... we are not mates, but... you're so..."

During his monologue, his hands gripped tighter on Zim's leg and now they were nervously cramping with the jeans cloth. Dib was just too scared to touch Zim 'too much', so he would lose control. His other side was just waiting for this to happen! Lurking and luring Dib with thoughts... nice thoughts. He was getting upset again, but all he could do was whine.

"...Z-Zim... I don't know, what to do!" He helplessly whimpered and tightly closed his eyes again, hoping to shoo away these 'thoughts'...

At seeing Dib take off his glasses, Zim could now see his eyes clearly, but instead of wide and happy, they were filled with worry... And he didn't like it. They became even more clear when the human moved closer to him and rested his hands on his leg.

Zim was now concerned...

Very concerned.

Listening to the explanation, his eye's widened and a slight blush formed on his face. And instead of concerned, Zim was now scared. Not for himself, no, never that. But for Dib... Of course that news was slightly... 'embarrassing', but the human looked so... broken. So confused. Because of him! He felt so guilty now... And it felt like one of his organs had just hit the floor... Maybe that's what human's meant by 'felt their heart drop'...? Well, of course it wasn't his heart, since he didn't have one. Had something LIKE it, but not exactly.

He'd seen something on a show GIR watched awhile ago... One of the two characters had said they 'felt their heart drop' from news the other had said, and then put the other's head on their lap... Yet it seemed like it was a mother and a child. But, it wouldn't hurt to see if that comforted Dib?

So, placing his hand on Dib's back, he gently pulled until the human was on his back, head resting in Zim's lap. It was an actually surprisingly comfortable position. During this, Zim used his other hand to stroke the other's hair.

Ugh... the humiliation if someone were to see this besides him and Dib... But no-one was going to, so it didn't matter.

Looking down at Dib, Zim spoke. "I told you not to be upset, didn't I? We'll figure something out... Just don't stress out about it. You humans allow your emotions to control you, like they own you. But no, you own them, don't you? Be the controller, not the slave and everything will be fine." ...Had he really just said something that... 'weird'? Obviously he had...

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?" He asked, smiling slightly.

That was for sure, Dib didn't expect such a... caring gesture. Yeah, Zim was truly concerned for him. So his eyes widened for only a second by surprise, before they fell hald-lidden. Now he felt so secure and wanted! His stress slowly decreased. Zim's lap was actually more comfy than any pillow in the world. And the view was good too, well except for the contacts and the wig. But still... it was a smiling Zim. And the way the Irken's claws brushed against his scalp... hmm, so relaxing! So, as a result, his red face was slooowly getting less red, gaining back its usual pale tone.

Smiling back, Dib mumbled. "Ya' know, if I could purr, I would purr so loud now... even louder than GIR ever could be. J-Just so you know, you... n-nice I feel right now." Dib stretched out his lanky legs and fondled with the fingers of Zim's free hand.

But what Zim said about emotions was so... true, so logical. It surprised the boy quite a lot, since it was ZIM who said it. Apparently never dealt with human emotions, it seemed the Irken knew more about them than Dib, the human, did.

"And actually it didn't sound stupid in the slightest, Zim, but...well, controlling my emotions is said easily, but... it's a part of me, s-so it's hard to just separate it from...well, the 'rest' of my personality. Especially in my case... emotions are superior, they're making ME. A Dib without emotions, or any human without them- wouldn't be a real human... A-Also, I didn't say they're bad; I'm just so confused. I'm feeling so much, it's l-like a flood."

In the end, Dib's words were barely above a whisper, talking more to himself than Zim. But seeing that worried look on the Irken's face, he quickly reassured. "B-But it's not your fault, Zim! Really. It's just... just so hard to pull myself together, when I'm... with you..."

With that, he closed his eyes and concentrated on Zim's caressing claws and the soft skin of the hand he was playing with. "But... I don't wanna miss that. Especially these moments with you...So very nice..." He mumbled and grinned. "Heh... Zim belongs to Dib, yeah."

Happy that Dib didn't think that the motion was too weird, Zim leaned back slightly into the couch, though still looking at the human. The other's eyes were shut now, yet a huge smile was still present. Heh, this position must REALLY comfort him. Zim must keep that in mind incase a moment like this happened again in the future.

Yet the words from the explanation moments ago popped back into his mind. In Dib's daydream, he had been scratching him... Moving his gaze, he now looked at his own hand which the human was currently playing with. But knowing his claws... That would more than likely hurt... Badly even. So, how was that -as Dib had put it- erotic...? He didn't even know what that meant. Another human term he wasn't familiar with. Yet, it must mean something 'odd' if those thoughts were causing Dib distress and confusion. And this 'mate' matter kept popping up from time to time also...

Obviously it was a great importance to be named someone's mate. And awkward to do what mates do during a friendship. So, why did they do it every now and then? They clearly both liked it, but then, as said before, they were no mates. ...This matter really needed to be sorted out, before Dib had another breakdown. It's horrible to see a friend in distress... And even more so when it's you that is the problem.

The question now was: how to fix it?

Well... One answer was obvious, but then highly disconcerting at the same time; and very highly unlikely to happen. Another was to just stay away from each other.

Never going to happen!

Even Zim knew that, that was out of the question. He would hate to lose his first, and only, friend.

Maybe something in-between? ...Well, that was where they were at the moment, special friends.

Zim let out a sigh and sank back further into the seat. This would be more difficult than he thought. Yet, if he wanted to settle this matter he'd have to have one question answered... But it'd probably be extremely embarrassing to ask AND to answer. But, here it goes.

"Dib-friend? Can two males or two females become m-m-" He took a deep breath in before continuing. "-Mates?" He finished, avoiding the human's gaze at all cost. The question meant nothing serious, nor anything to affect something between them. Just a simple curiosity, along with a question with need of an answer.

Dib enjoyed the silence and Zim's hands. It wasn't awkward like he thought it would be, regarding his previous... 'confessions'. But eventually, he heard the Irken's voice again. And what was said, was something he mused about himself. But it was still a shock for Dib to realize, Zim got similar thoughts...! Dib's ones revolved around Zim, but he was sure the Irken asked it with the same intention.

If it was possible to be Dib's...mate.

The boy opened his eyes and saw that the other was looking somewhere else. Well, who could blame him? Dib himself didn't dare to say that out aloud what Zim just asked, because it implied so much... Now, the matter stood in the room, hanging over them like a cloud.

"Well... ya' know, to be honest, I recently thought about the same thing. About h-"

Scared now, he stopped himself, but looking at Zim's dark green face and the avoiding, kinda angsty gaze... he decided it was only fair to say what was going on his mind, since Zim already brought up the courage to ask the question.

"- about how it would b-be... to... t-to be y-your mate, Zim...b-but just hypothetical! I-I don't mean it to sound so...weird. But it IS possible for two males... or females to be mates. It's just... not really tolerated on Earth, so often it's a secret, only a few people knowing about it. Too many p-people think it's wrong, but... I think there's nothing wrong with it, i-if two males or females l-like each other that way, so much, than it's... v-very right to be m-mates..."

Dib was more nervous than embarrassed, because images were coming back. About him and Zim... doing stuff...! So, he hid his flared face into the Irken's shirt and smelled his faint scent. But that certainly didn't help to calm him down... quite the opposite.

"D-Do you think about, h-how...it would be... b-being my... m-mate?" He mumbled barely audible since his face was full of Zim. Oh boy, did he really said that aloud? Yeah, but he wanted to know! It was very important to sort it out, since Dib felt like they already 'crossed the borders'.

Now with this topic, it became quite a awkward moment... Especially since it seemed like they were both thinking of the same thing... Yet, neither one was going to admit it to the other. "Your... Your mate?" Zim mumbled, brain melting at that moment from embarrassment.

Well, obviously he'd never thought about it before... being... Dib's mate... Wait! Why was this conversation even present... Well, that was because of him now, wasn't it?

"I don't know... It's just this m-m...-" Ugh, why could he never say it properly!? "-m-mate issue, seems to be causing your distress... And... I w-was just... t-thinking..." He explained, words drifting off slightly at the end.

Come to think of it... What WOULD it be like to be Dib's mate...? ...Weird possibly, but maybe not in a bad way. Since, he had grown increasingly fond of the human over the past few days... That's why they became friends, but now... Now they both had this 'different feeling' coming to life inside of them.

Looking down, Zim now saw that Dib had now hidden himself, well... his head really, in his shirt. The sight made him feel quite guilty about bringing this topic up, but it had to be said. For both of their sake. Maybe this is what all those 'stupid emotions' Dib was talking about? About the thought of being mates. But as the human said, just hypothetical... What did mates even need? Care, well they both cared for each other... Check... Trust... Check. Commitment, well they had that, since they didn't give up on one another... Check. And the final one, l- Zim's eyes widened and jerked slightly, blush increasing. 'Love...' He thought. What a stupid human emotion... Causes so much pain... But then, so much joy also.

Zim sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Zim doesn't know..." He simply stated.

The way Zim was saying the next few words, so... distant, almost slurred. It caused his head to come up from his nook, looking up. Of course, Zim's face was so very dark, but also he was so tense, rigid. Well, they both were.

After the other's last words, Dib decided to make the moment less awkward, more... nice. What did they do to reach this? Oh, yeah... So, instead of pushing the topic further, Dib pulled back from Zim's lap and hesitantly sat in the other's lap, straddling him. Then, without any doubts, he placed his hands on two green cheeks.

"I-I don't know either, Z-Zim... but THIS is for sure..." Dib whispered against the other's lips, before he slowly leaned forward and gently kissed his Irken.

Sensing movement from Dib, Zim looked back down to the human and saw that he was moving out of his lap. Well, of course Zim thought the worst, that Dib had found the topic too weird and wanted to leave or something... The topic was slightly weird, but he didn't think it was that weird to make the human want to leave. But no, he wasn't leaving...

He was sitting on his lap! Yet the position didn't feel completely 'innocent' as the last one was. The closeness of both their faces proved that. He could guess what was coming next. And sure enough, it did; they were kissing again. This time is was expected and welcome, so Zim shut his eyes and focused on the tingling feeling which had appeared in his chest.

It was funny, since the taller Dib sat on Zim's lap, while he needed his back a bit, but he wasn't complaining. After Zim offered his lap as a pillow, the boy thought this position will be more pleasurable for both of them. So peeking one eye open, Dib saw that the Irken already closed his own eyes.

Their tongues didn't fight so rough like during the 'battle' last night. For Dib, it was more a curious sweep, like their wet thingys were hugging each other. Also, Zim seemed to be more relaxed this time, since it wasn't so surprising to do this, since the boy climbed on the other's lap and such...

And regarding their topic just moments ago, Dib wanted to know, how Zim was feeling during the kiss, more than usual. The talk about mates and affection and stuff... So one of his hands firmly massaged Zim's neck, while the other wandered upwards and removed the wig. With one eye open, Dib happily watched the two antennae spring up in the air, relieved to be free. Using just two fingers, his thumb brushed ever so slightly over the feelers surface near the base.

Dib knew the tip was the most sensitive part, so starting at the base seemed to be smart. He didn't want to make Zim's brain stop working, but that the Irken got more used to the feeling his fingers caused on the antenna.

The thumb stopped and Dib backed away just an inch to speak: "...Zim?... H-How are you feeling now?" Dib whispered and caressed the green neck, while smiling reassuringly at Zim.

With a sudden loss of weight on top of his head, Zim realized that Dib had more than likely taken off his wig. He had almost forgotten that he actually had his disguise on, since he had gotten used to it after awhile. A sudden shiver made its way down the Irken's spine which shook him slightly, at feeling the other's fingers on his antennae, but this time his brain stayed functional, yet that didn't stop a purr from becoming active.

Usually Zim would have got annoyed at this, but after Dib had explained that he had liked the sound, he didn't mind it so much either.

After a few moments, they both parted, and that left him panting slightly. But his mind was already thinking about the question. Well, as usual his squeedily-spooch felt like it was twisting in knots, and that he was getting electrocuted by some type of wire going down his spine. It happened every time this type of moment became present between the two of them. Also, a warm feeling made its way into his chest whenever even just looking at Dib recently... Now, just to find a way to put that into words.

So, opening his eyes, he looked directly into the other's eyes whilst replying. "W-Weird... It f-feels like my organs are imploding in on themselves, but it's a nice feeling, w-which is odd..." He started, taking a deep breath before continuing. "And it feels like there's a fire right here-" He pointed to his chest. "-When you're c-close... ...Well that sounded stupid! But, it's t-true..." He finished, smiling slightly.

At hearing the other's purring, Dib instantly shuddered and felt a rush of excitement shooting through his body. The first thing Dib did, was carefully remove the contacts with shaky hands. Placing them on a armrest, he eagerly looked into Zim's slightly glistening red eyes. At seeing the Irken's true form in all its glory, Dib felt even more connected with Zim. Even more close, emotionally. It was such an intimate moment, Dib got somewhat dizzy and leaned forward, until their foreheads touched.

Now his whole view-field was filled with...red. Dib could watch, how the colour slowly got darker... Another deep shudder grasped his body and he took Zim's face in his slightly sweaty hands. Dib breathed the same air as Zim, when he spoke, panting and overly hot feeling. "Really?... Well, I'm feeling quite similar...r-right now, Z-Zim...A squeezing i-in my chest. And your purring m-makes me so... light headed and... hot. Also I can see... how dark y-your eyes can get. It's always so f-fascinating to see."

Closing his eyes for some seconds to let the feelings overflow him, Dib took a deep breath and opened them again.

"Y-Ya' know, there's a human term... saying you got b-butterflies in your stomach. I-I never understood it, but now... it f-feels exactly like this... l-like they are flying around inside me... and it feels so nice!"

Dib grinded their hips together, since his position kinda... offered it to him. But still, he was more in control than usually in such moments... Smiling dreamily at sensing the waves of heat rolling around in his body, not from day-dreaming, Dib slid his hands under the Irken's shirt and placed them on the Irkens side, needing to grasp more of his Zim.

"...Y-You're so close to me, Zim...right now... in so many ways, you... have no idea." He wasn't sure if the other understood the statement, but then again... he didn't really do either. He just felt this way.

Now that their foreheads had met, Zim could also see the human's eyes a lot better too. The mix of golden yellow and light brown... It was difficult to not just stare and study them, whilst forgetting anything else. But he managed it just enough to hear what Dib had to say.

"What a weird human expression..." He said, thinking out-loud, before gasping slightly as their hips ground together and at the feeling of the hands on his skin. It made his entire body heat up slightly and breathing to become more deliberate.

"W-Well of course I'm c-close to you. You're s-sitting on me," he replied, chuckling slightly, before wrapping his arms around Dib's torso in a hug. Being so close to the other made Zim feel so happy and warm inside, like nothing else mattered at all. All worries and issues went flying out the window not to return until they were apart. It was odd, since usually he would compare the current situation to what could be happening if they weren't 'special friends'. But that didn't seem necessary this time, not in the slightest. Here and now was what mattered, no thoughts about the past, or the future... Which was weird, since Zim usually thought about both those things without even realizing he was doing it; but not this time.

"You're Zim's human..." He mumbled, nuzzling his face into Dib's neck.

It was hard to hold back a laugher, when Dib heard the other's first statement. Well, that soon changed when he felt Zim's breath on his neck, actually the whole face of Zim. But what affected him the most were the other's last words. 'Zim's human...' Dib thought over and over again. It was odd, but he really, really liked how that sounds. And the way Zim said it...

"Yeah, I'm yours... Zim property..." It kinda slipped out, but the boy didn't complain or feel embarrassed. Belonging to Zim... only Zim... made his heart beat so fast, like it wanted to get out of his ribcage. That reminded him of his formerly broken ribs...the pain and... No! Quickly these thoughts were replaced with Zim. What he had done for him. Literally repaired him. Maybe in more than a physical way...

Dib gladly repaid the hug tightly and kissed the top of Zim's head a few times, before resting his chin on it, between lightly twitching antennae.

"Heh...I like sitting on you. This time... you're my couch and your head is my green pillow. And I can't... decide which I like more. You sitting on me... or vice versa, like now... my amazing Irken. My Zim... so very special, yes," Dib whispered.

After a few moments and before he even knew it, the boy absently nibbled at one of Zim's antennas, since they were so temptingly near, neatly placed on that comfy head-pillow.

"Like I said before, I am no pillo-" Zim began, but got interrupted at feeling Dib's teeth lightly biting on his antenna. Instantly his eyes went half-lidded and the purring increased significantly in volume. Yet, since it was near the base of the antenna it didn't fully make his brain go to mush, but that didn't stop it from sending electric bolts through every nerve he had.

The agreeing words from Dib was nice to hear, since that's what he believed. Dib belonged to him. No-one else. He claimed him as Irken property, so that's what he was.

"H-Human... G-Get off m-my a-antennae..." He managed, with some difficulty though, since the shocks made it quite tricky to speak. Zim didn't mind the other stroking his antennae, but using his mouth was a different story. Yes, it felt nice, but too nice was a bad thing sometimes. Especially since the reason they actually sat down was to talk, but now they were having another 'moment'.

After a few moments, Zim tightened the hug, as if to find a way to lower the amount of shocks and warmth he was radiating by now; yet it seemed to have no effect.

Dib wasn't really aware what he was doing, since he just concentrated on this strange, incredible sweetness on his lips. However, soon he got out of his half-dazed state of mind, when he heard his friend speaking. So struggled and... pleading. His eyes shot wide open and he drew back. He couldn't look at Zims face, since it was nestled in his neck and moving was difficult, since the Irken hugged him so tight.

He didn't intend to do that, having one of these feelers inside his mouth. It just happened in the literal heat of the moment. Speaking of it... Zim was so much warmer than before and so tightly pressed against Dib's body, that the boy could smell Zim's otherwise faint scent rather strong now. This and the now omnipotent, loud purring... Oh boy, it didn't help in the slightest to keep control. Zim's purring... that unique sound... Dib heavily concentrated not to do something 'unexpected'.

But... his body reacted in ways he never experienced before... His loins gradually warmed up, more than the rest of his body, so that had to mean something...But Dib wasn't really embarrassed by it, more... scared. Of what could happen. In the next moments. He decided to just ignore it for now and smacked his lips instead, tasting the lingering sweetness of Zim's antenna on it. He remembered it from his first 'mouth-encounter' with one of the feelers. It also tasted sweet back then... But now it the taste was ten times more intense and... yeah, kinda yummy. It was a wonder Dib was still able to speak rather intelligible, since his body and mind were filled with purring... Irken scent... Zim's warm body pressed against his... and that sweet taste!

So, resting his drugged-up head on the other's one, he heavily panted against the previously nibbled on antennae. It wasn't easy to resist the urge to suck on it for dear life, like licking at the ice-cream the day before. "...Z-Z-Ziiimm... I'm s-sorry...I-I didn't know I was...I was doing... b-but, god it tasted sooo sweet! ...W-What is this...t-taste, Zim?... It's so intense...the w-waffle before is n-nothing... compared to this sweetness... l-like honey and sugar and so much candy and stuff..." His hands under the the Irken's shirt now just pressed flat against the skin there, absorbing Zim's warmth, like the rest of Dib was doing.

"B-But Zim... p-please don't s-stop... with whatever you're doing to me... right now," the boy mumbled in sheer delight. Since he could feel his groin heating up more and more and something came to life down there... Dib got scared of even thinking about what 'it' could be, but was more afraid it would stop this wonderful moment any time soon.

With a now free antenna, Zim lessened his grip around the human ever so slightly, since the feeling was still there, just not so intense. And the intense feeling from before made him feel like he was going to lose his mind, since he wasn't used to it at all. Neither of them were it seemed.

The question caught him off guard slightly though, and caused his previous blush to intensify greatly. This information was going to be extremely difficult to explain without turning awkward... Or worse! But Dib had asked... And deserved an answer. So, taking a deep breath in, he spoke.

"W-Well... Back when Irkens w-were allowed t-to have m-m...mates on Irk... T-They could release a natural c-chemical from their antennae around a-another Irken they... l-liked..." He couldn't believe he was having to explain this to Dib... And the situation they were in with this conversation wasn't going to help... "And i-if the other f-found their chemical 'nice'... then they w-were compatible with e-each other, and w-would become... become m-m..." Zim shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. He really couldn't finish that sentence... No... Not when it seemed like he was sending out these chemical.

"B-But... it's always t-there! Just... increases at t-the right t-t-time... And we c-can't control it." He added, feeling like he was going to explode from embarrassment at any moment. The situation they were in, it seemed to have activated that chemical... The talk from earlier and now this... And Dib knew!

Zim mentally screamed in frustration, and slicked back his antennae until they were flat against his head, wishing they would just disappear for a moment. "Usually it's w-when two Irkens rub their a-antennae together... B-But since y-you don't have any..." He admitted, opening his eyes slightly in shame.

A whine escaped Dib's lips and he pressed even more into his Zim, if that was possible. He was being overwhelmed by a mixture of fascination and guilt.

On one hand he was mesmerized by Zim's reaction to his actions. Especially after he knew what the sweet taste meant... He already heard of such things by watching documentations about wild animals. Males radiated some kind of pheromone too attract females... for mating... Well, of course, Dib's face, his whole body flared up, until he felt like he was burning from the inside.

Dib couldn't believe what the other had said. Apparently, Zim was giving off a similar chemical... ZIM! And he, Dib, was the reason for it!

On the other hand, he now felt really guilty for making Zim so very embarrassed. He probably wanted to die out of pure shame... And it was Dib's fault... Alone from the way he forced out his words and stuttered... oh boy.

Dib felt so much like a perv in that moment. And it didn't help that a part of him, his 'other' side, still wanted to go further; getting turned on by the display of his trembling Irken beneath him. But for now, Dib controlled at least his mind, and shuffled an inch away from Zim, parting their hips. However, Dib didn't notice the slight bulge in his pants.

"W-Well... I have to say I... I-I really like that... taste...it's ...umm... kinda y-yummy... B-But, Zim...I really got no intention...t-to make you react l-like...this. To m-make you so embarrassed... Please, I don't... want to push...a-anything. Or force y-you to..." To what? He didn't know.

Dib grabbed Zim's shaking hands and rubbed them, trying to calm his Zim without too much more touching. It was really hard to resist the urge though... "Do I r-really... m-make you feel this way...Z-Zim?...b-because it all seems... so s-surreal right now...a-and I can even s-smell you so strong a-and-" Wait... Dib was finding the taste and the smell 'nice'. Even more than that. Does that meant that...that they were 'compatible' to... being mates...?

Unintentionally, he mumbled out aloud the last part of his musings. "...But we didn't rub something together... just our...hips..." And with that, Dib tensed and looked down with wide eyes... down at the bulge in his pants.

Out of instinct, he tried to hide it up with his hands, before he noticed he was still holding Zim's hands in his own... So all he was doing was pressing the Irken's hands on his awakening '-ness'. Well, they were even, since now Dib was no less embarrassed than Zim was in this very moment.

'Why me? WHY ME?' Was all that was going through Zim's head during the awkward silence which followed. And he still didn't lift his gaze up when he heard Dib speaking. He was too ashamed to show his face now... Never had this happened in his life... And he never thought it would either! Especially not with a human... A male... DIB! Ugh...

Zim was now gritting his teeth so bad, he was surprised that his teeth didn't just smash from the pressure. 'Why me...' he repeated for the last time, before his hands got snatched up. Now he had to look up, or he'd have two pairs of hands right in front of his face. So, leaning his head back, he began to look at their hands, still too embarrassed to look directly at Dib at that moment...

He wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't look Dib directly in the eye again for a long time... But then again, that may just be because of his embarrassment in that moment... It should lower in time...

'Stupid time...' was all Zim could think, finding everything 'stupid' in his current embarrassed mind.

Hearing the next question, Zim honestly thought he was just going to die there and then... "It would seem so..." He simply replied, no stuttering and no pauses... He couldn't get anymore embarrassed than he was in that moment, so why even bother?

Sighing, Zim wished -for the first time in his life- that GIR would come running through that door, throwing around mud and screaming his head off... Just to get rid of this topic, but to his horror, no such luck came his way.

Now he was confused like crazy... He wasn't attracted to this human... Was he? With great difficulty, he raised his gaze even more to look at Dib's face, still avoiding his gaze though. ...His 'big head' seemed to have another meaning at the moment... No longer was it an insult, but more of a compliment... Since if he had a big head, it meant his face's features were more noticeable... His nose, lips, ears... and beautiful eyes...

The eyes he couldn't look at, at this moment!

Zim wanted to see that golden yellow and brown combo, but couldn't bring himself to looking. Yet, suddenly he didn't need to avoid his gaze anymore, since Dib looked down and seemed very embarrassed by what he had seen. But, before Zim could look down also, his hands, which were still connected to Dib's, were pulled down to the other's lap... Well, not his 'lap' EXACTLY... But Zim, thinking that it was just another pocket, didn't make a big deal out of anything... Except one thing... What ever was in that 'pocket' was very noticeable. And his hands were right on it...

"Dib-human... W-What's in your pocket?" He asked, now curious about what the human was so shocked about.

'OH GOD... Oh my goddamn goodness!' Dib screamed in his head. It was hard to believe, but he felt it...Zim... got his hands...his hands on his... well, yeah... And it didn't help, firmly pressed against 'it' for some seconds, after Dib got the brilliant idea to remove Zim's hands first, before that would 'affect' him even more than it already was...After all, while speaking, the Irken unintentionally rubbed against his member, causing it to only awaken more.

Once the green hands were gone, Dib immediately covered his half erection with his own, tightly sealed his eyes and looked down. Normally, he would have laughed at Zim's innocence, asking what was in that 'pocket' or if it happened to someone else, but now... it happened to him. Zim...ZIM had almost grabbed it with his hands... Dib couldn't believe he did something so stupid, because he was the one who literally forced Zim to touch it..well, not directly, more through the...Ugh, no! Wrong thoughts.

"...Z-Z-Zim..I...w-was just...I-I'm..." How should he explain this?!

He wasn't even aware, that all this touching and kissing...all this Zim... was making him not only happy, but really aroused, sexually... Oh, boy. That was a whole new level of feelings for the poor boy. Sure, he already explored his body two or three times by now, but of course totally alone with his thoughts and...sounds he had made. But now, ZIM was the reason for his... yeah, his erection. Simple as. It was too much for him.

Dib wanted to just get off of Zim and crawl into a dark corner. But he couldn't... he really couldn't. First, because he still liked the Irken's closeness very much and all the making-out stuff... And second, he was worried how Zim would react if he just left without any explanations. Probably, he would blame himself for that, and that was bad. He definitively didn't want to make Zim feel guilty... for something stupid he did. God, he already made his friend so embarrassed that Dib almost thought he kinda deserved this moment. His own embarrassment. Getting even this way. Heh, funny if you thought about it. At another time...

Wait!

Now Dib thought about what happened with Zim just moments ago... the purring, dark eyes, the smell and especially the sweet taste on the other's antennae... Regarding what Zim had said...weren't those things the same reaction like his own body? A slight hard-on...? Of course... That chemical... if Zim 'liked' another being around him, his body would make that sweet chemical... So, that means.. Zim was aroused too!

It... it just shows in a totally different way from humans. That fact reduced his current embarrassment a little bit. Enough that he was able to speak again. It as only fair to explain it to Zim. Quite a 'hard' task...

"N-No, Zim... t-there's nothing...in my pocket; it isn't even a r-real pocket, just... j-just a zipper...I mean, listen, I'm wearing... underwear and because...N-no I mean...there's a sensitive part of my b-body which... I-I mean-"

Why couldn't he just say it? Having a penis. An erected one... Well, the Irken's would probably be just confused, thinking it was a bad thing and it's his fault. Hmm...

"Listen, Z-Zim... this 'thing in my pocket' is actually... a r-reaction of my body... similar to s-sending out that chemical of y-yours ...I-I guess it got the same r-reason for it... or for y-your eyes getting so dark... It happened... b-because I'm feeling... l-lustful or ... aroused. A-And I can't really c-control it either..." There. Now he hoped, Zim understood the rough concept. And wouldn't back away.

With the silence which followed, and the expression seen on Dib's face, Zim's curiosity turned into confusion... It looked like the question had only increased the other's embarrassment... But why? It was only a pocket, right?

Apparently not.

After Dib had explained what 'it' actually was, instantly Zim's eyes widened and changed his gaze away from that certain place... Right, so he had just been staring, and technically touched...

'Oh Irk!' He mentally whined, blush increasing slightly.

So, basically they were both having the same reaction? That increased the moment's awkward level to a whole new scale... Yes, the moment was strange beyond belief... But that didn't change anything between them, did it? He hoped not... This just proved how different both their species were. Physically, but maybe not so much mentally for both of them? They could both feel embarrassment, pain, guilt, but over all, affection. Even not in the way they both first thought. Friendship was both their first thoughts, yet, they had just had a quite meaningful talk about 'mates' and now THIS!

"Oh..." Was all Zim could say... Both their faces looked like a neon sign that was outside a club door, and their embarrassment shooting through the roof! "T-Then... Maybe we s-should do something else?" He nervously added, not wanting this situation to turn even more 'weird'... Maybe if they did something to take their minds of this conversation, then the chemical and the thing in Dib's 'pocket' might go... Since it seemed they both wanted to get rid of them, because they sounded just as bad as the other. Yet, in all honestly, he didn't want to move... Apart from the awkward moment and things which had become 'active'... It was a quite comfortable position still. And he would gladly stay there all day, just talking...

But what they were talking about at the moment was just... strange. How did they get to this anyway? Just awhile ago, it was just an innocent talk. That seemed like forever ago now though...

"S-Something...else?" They could do so much...else, actually. But nothing would be comparable to... this! Despite all embarrassment, Dib wanted to stay close to Zim. If they would flee from the awkwardness by just forgetting about the 'moment' and doing something else... such a moment wouldn't occur for a while. Dib was sure they would trying to prevent any more of this happening. That means no cuddling... or kissing...maybe even hand-holding...No! If that what happens during a... quite intense making-out, then it's a part of it! And despite the embarrassment, they both get apparently only good feelings, caused by the other. Still, a break from intense 'moments' was needed.

"Okay... as long as we stay together...it's fine," the boy explained. "We could...umm... just talk, how that sounds?" Dib's 'bulge' was slowly disappearing, so he just crawled out of Zim's lap. Then he lied down on his back, head resting on a armrest and lifted his arms a bit, making grabby motions.

Relieved that the conversation they just had was going to be in the past within a few moments, Zim's blush was close to gone. He never expected to have to have a conversation like that with anyone in the first place, let alone Dib. Yet, that meant he didn't have to explain it ever again, well, unless the human forgot, which was unlikely to happen... Hopefully. Expecting the other to sit next to him, Zim was surprised to see that he in fact lay across the couch.

He remembered that hand motion that the human was doing from earlier, and remembered its meaning. So, he moved over so that he was now lying on top of the other. Instantly the warmth from Dib met his own heat, and he sighed contently. Yes, so... talking. After a few moments of trying to think of conversation ideas, he finally found one.

"You said that other humans found your paranormal-thingys crazy before I even arrived here... So, what other 'paranormal' was there?" He asked, actually quite curious to what other things Dib had seen, other than him.

In Dib's mind, this position was perfect. It was very comfy and they were close to each other, yet it didn't really feel embarrassing. Hopefully, it would stay like this for a while. Still, he noticed a rest of a sweet scent coming from Zim. Faint, but there. Guessing it would vanish soon, Dib tried to ignore it and replied a bit nervous.

"Umm... I don't know, but ever since I got to Skool, I was interested in such things. L-Like... ghosts, bigfoot, time travels...or even psychics. All that stuff is called 'paranormal', mostly because it's not... proofed, no evidence... a-at least in a scientific way. B-But I've never really seen such things... J-Just read about it. I'm just interested in this stuff, b-because I'm sure there's more in the world than we human are able to see... or measure. A-Actually, the m-most interesting thing I heard about is, a theory... thereby extraterrestrial beings, aliens landed... here on Earth, thousands of years ago and taught the primitive humans all kind of stuff."

The more Dib spoke, the less he was nervous. It was his favourite subject after all and he was glad, at least to someone... well, not someone. A real alien. An Irken!

"S-So, you're maybe not the first alien, who came to this planet," Dib smiled smugly up at Zim. Then he hugged his Irken tight and nuzzled his neck.

"But you're my personal 'paranormal' proof, Zim. So what more I could hope for than a live alien as my special friend." Closing his eyes, Dib only tightened his hug and smelled still that nice scent. "Y-You belong to me, Zim... and I won't share my Irken. Nope!"

That worked; the moment was a lot less awkward now, which was good. Now they could just talk normally. And talk Dib did. A full explanation about the paranormal. Zim knew that it was one of Dib's favourite things. Ever since they'd met it had been 'paranormal this' and 'paranormal that'. He didn't mind now though, not in the slightest. If the other liked talking about it, then he liked listening. It was actually really interesting to hear about. But what really peeked his interest what that about another species possibly coming to Earth before him...

Zim didn't know of another species which knew of Earth... Even the Tallest didn't know about this 'secret planet'... It wasn't even meant to exist, it was just... There! So, it could have been a possibility.

"See? Even you humans couldn't have evolved without a guidance of another species. It's surprising you've got this far from the apes." He teased, not really intending it to be an insult, before returning the hug.

"And, yes I know, you've made that clear before," he added, chuckling slightly at the last statement.

Glad that Zim was happy again, Dib just replied: "Yeah... humans are horrible, heh. And... Did I really made it that clear? Because... I could show you again... i-if you want." It sounded like a joke and was meant at that, but... it was exciting for Dib just to think about... 'No... I have to control myself,' he quickly reminded him mentally. So, talk. Hmm... yeah!

"N-Now that I think about it...is it normal... for an Irken to clam s-someone as their 'property'? E-Even if it's forbidden to have... m-mates...?" Damn, he didn't intend to bring up that subject again, but Dib was curious. Oh so curious... It was strange, because he liked being Zim's 'Irken property' or 'his human'... The two times he said it, it sent a tingling spark over his skin... just by hearing it. It was so... affectionate when Zim said it.

Hearing the question, Zim was caught slightly off guard with that one, thinking that the 'mate' conversation was over... But that question sounded innocent enough.

"Well, yes and no really... Yes in the way that invaders claim other's as their property; as in slaves or test subjects. And no, since I-I didn't mean it t-that way at all... You're neither of them, and shouldn't ever be." He explained, slightly embarrassed again.

In no way had he meant it like other invaders do... No, he'd meant it as HIS property. HIS friend. No-one else's. Zim tightened his hug possessively, as if a way to make that thought official. And just as Dib had said, he wasn't willing to share him either.

HIS human.

"Does that answer your question Dib-friend?" He asked, wondering if the other had wanted a simple answer.

For a brief moment, Dib cringed at the mention of slaves...But just for a second, because he knew Zim didn't mean it that way. Maybe in the past... but that was certainly over!

"Yes. It says all. I think I could get used to it. Being Zim-property. In fact... I-I really like it. It may sound... kinda cheesy, but there's a unique bond b-between us, Zim. We know so much about each other, like no-one else could do. So, you can squish me as long as you want. Heh, how would you say it... 'the Dib is pleased,' yeah."

Taking a deep breath, he quietly added. "...and I can still s-smell you... i-it's nice." He let his heavy lids fall down and concentrated on the faint scent and Zim's arms tightly wrapped around him. Dib felt safe. He felt comfy. He felt complete...

At least that answered the question, he was slightly worried that Dib might find the answer confusing or off topic, but if he was happy with the answer, so was Zim. Yet, Dib seemed to be happy just being called his property... Odd, since he hadn't expected that reaction when he first said it. But now, it seemed like they both were each other's property...

Was that even logical? Probably not, just thinking about it just began to give Zim a headache, so he gave up trying to un-puzzle that thought.

He just about heard the other's last statement, since it was quite quietly spoken, and it caused more thoughts to pop up in his mind... If Dib liked the scent... And what he just explained about if an Irken liked the other's scent. Did it comply to humans too? If so, wouldn't that mean they were 'compatible'? Zim quickly shook his head. No! He wasn't going to think down that road again!

"Uh, thank you..." He said, smiling slightly, feeling like he should say something at least.

"You're welcome, Zimmy..." Dib contently replied and began to firmly graze his fingertips along the Irken's sides. But what was it with this...smell? This lightly sweet scent... He noticed it before, when Dib was cuddling shirtless with Zim. But back then, it was barely there, very faint and kinda distant. Since the 'moment' just minutes ago -he, sitting on the Irken's lap-, Zim's scent was rather strong now, compared to before... And it made him somewhat light-headed and feeling warm inside; like like when he heard the other's purring, same reaction actually.

Oh boy... recently, Zim was so tempting, so irresistible... A part of Dib just wanted to make-out with Zim all day. Getting this friction and tingling feelings back and so much more, even Dib didn't know about... yet. Pulling himself together, he concentrated on things they could do; 'friend's activities'. And, on itself, suddenly an strange idea became present... yeah, that would be funny. After another unintentional deep breath, to smell Zim, Dib stopped his hands and made his suggestion.

"Hey, I thought about something... nice we could do. I-I like to cycle and, as a child, used to make tours through the city with Gaz. But... someday she found that Gameslave stuff and now her bike uselessly lays around in the cellar... S-So what I'm trying to say is...ummm... m-maybe I could show you how to ride a b-bike, Zim." Now he concentrated not to laugh out loud, because the image of Zim riding a bike, or at least trying to do so... well, it was REALLY hilarious.

It was a relaxing moment for sure. Just the both of them lying there and talking. And Zim was starting to get used to that nickname, since it no longer caused him to get embarrassed as much as it did before. He'd seen it as a teasing name before, but now he saw it for what it was meant to be, an affectionate nickname. The mentioning of another activity brought back Zim's curiosity. He'd heard about these bicycles, and seen a few on the streets whilst walking to Skool, yet never been on one... And didn't intend to either until now.

One: since he'd seen many children fall off them, so they looked quite dangerous.

Two: since it wasn't needed. And three... they looked difficult.

But, if someone, that someone being Dib, was going to teach him... How difficult could it be?

"O-Okay... But is it difficult?" He decided to ask anyway, just to be sure. It sounded like fun though, and it surely would be if they were together. Looking back to Dib's face, he noticed that he had a wobbly smile, as if hiding a laugh.

Zim narrowed his eyes slightly in suspicion. "What's so funny?" He asked, leaning forward slightly, to make sure that the other knew that he wanted an answer.

Dib couldn't hold it any longer... but before he laughed, he quickly shut himself up by furiously kissing his Irken, including licking lips. But not too much... After some seconds, Dib parted their lips, before anything 'further' could happen.

Still, a small chuckle left his mouth as he simply answered: "You..." Smacking his lips, he added. "And it isn't really difficult to learn, heh. Especially for my amazing Zim. You can fly spacecrafts, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Otherwise, Zim already got his struggles with a belt... Oh, well, Dib was there after all to take care of his friend, so it seemed to be a nice, funny activity. Hopefully for both of them... Dib now used his hands again to firmly caress Zim's sides, but this time under the shirt, digging his fingertips in here and there. He couldn't help it!

"Sooo... do you want to learn it now or... should we stay like this for a while, Zim? It's your choice." It felt like an eternity for Dib since the last time he looked directly into these magnificent red orbs of Zim's... Along with the feel of velvet-like, soft skin and the lingering Zim-scent... Well, it was very nice...

Now with tingling lips, Zim bit down on them both to remove the sensation before resting his chin on Dib's chest, blushing slightly, whilst looking at the other.

"Yes, but 'spacecrafts' are a lot more stable and safe to use than those two wheeled death traps..." He argued.

But Dib did have a point... They looked a heck of a lot simpler to use. Pedal-powered vehicles usually were though. Especially Earth made ones. And if he could use a bike, then that maybe restore his dignity which he lost back at the store when he couldn't use that stupid snake-like looking thing which held the jeans up... 'Belt' he thought it was called... Well, it was just TOO simple to use... Hearing the last question, Zim only thought about it for a moment.

Would he rather fall of a bike and destroy any dignity he had left, or stay like this with Dib for a while longer? Easy decision.

"It can wait till later," he answered, shivering slightly from the feel of the other's hands on his sides, whilst reaching up a hand to mess with Dib's hair once again.


	37. Chapter 37

**Yay! Zims first (and probably only) biking lesson.**

**Enjoy!**

Noticing the shiver very well, Dib grinned to himself and only increased the pressure with his hands. "Okay, let's postpone it... for a while," he replied and enjoyed the tickle on his head every time the other's claws lightly scratched against his scalp.

It was funny how Zim actually liked his un-feeling hair, not being sensitive at all. But, if Zim liked to play with it that was fine with him, since he knew by now, this means that his Irken was calm or happy. Apparently both right now. It was a hard to describe feeling Dib got in such moments (beside others). Knowing he was the reason someone's happiness. Zim's happiness... But of course the opposite feeling, guilt mostly, gripped him, when he makes Zim embarrassed like it sadly happened too many times by now. In the last 3 days. Because Dib was too curious sometimes and pushing things; unintentionally but still... So this time, he tried to act 'slow and gentle' with the touches he gave his friend.

Soon, his hands not only stayed at Zim's sides but roamed all over his green back and the boy's thumbs even crawled under Zim to brush against his belly. It was easier than before, since the new red shirt was bigger than the old one; so more space for his slender fingers.

Alternating from light strokes to firmly kneading, Dib just wanted to relax the Irken. Make him feel good and comfy. Looking at the other and widening his eyes slightly (yeah, he was showing them off), Dib still grinned.

"Does my Zim likes this...?"

Well, at least the possibility of falling off a bike was going to be put on hold for awhile. But, if human children could ride them... So could he, right? That'd be decided later on though. So, putting those thoughts out the way, Zim focused his attention back on the present moment, and noticed how Dib's eye were ever so slightly wider.

He could see the colours of the other's eyes a lot better now, and it sure was a sight to behold. Zim shuffled up closer to the human's face slightly so could see even better. Now that they were in the main level, which thankfully had a window, the light was reflecting off Dib's eyes, making them shine even brighter.

He smiled at the view, and rested his head back down, still staring. And the tingling on his back from the other's touches made the moment even nicer. So calm and relaxing...

Zim nodded at the question, before adding: "But, just don't look so proud of yourself." Bringing his hand down from his hair to poke the other's nose; before returning it back on top of Dib's head.

It was his way of getting his point across whilst getting a small chance to annoy the other. Yet, not too much to be mean. Just enough to tease.

Wrinkling his nose, Dib's smile got even bigger, not annoyed at all. "Well, you were the one who said my eyes look... nice. So, I'm just noble and showing them, so you can be amazed," he teased back, before the boy got a bit more serious.

"B-But honestly... I'm kinda proud of them, since I know y-you like them. It's funny, since we both find the other's eyes nice. And yours are... really beautiful. It's like looking at a painting. Your red orbs are... familiar and foreign at the same time. A-And when they are getting so dark I... I-I think...-"

Ugh, moments like this always made Dib either aroused or babbling cheesy stuff.

"- I mean... I like your eyes, Zimmy and not only them... I mean... ummm... nevermind. I'll shut up, 'kay?"

Why was he getting so nervous so fast? It were those eyes... for sure! It somehow reminded Dib of that hypnotic zit of Zim's at Skool. And all the mess he cleaned up... Anyhow, every time he looked to long straight into the Irken's eyes, he felt nice and a little dizzy.

Weird.

Zim simply rolled his eyes at Dib's usual rambling, finding it quite funny in one way, and the other rather expected.

"Heh, well thank you; 'your amazing and noble Dib-ness'" He replied, sitting up and doing a mock salute, before bursting out laughing at how weird it sounded. Especially from him. Even if it was intended as a joke, he never expected himself to say that. No matter how stupid it probably sounded or looked, he found it funny, and hoped Dib would too.

After a good minute or two of laughing, Zim finally calmed down and returned himself back on top of the other.

"Sorry," he quickly added, still giggling slightly.

In all seriousness though, he was quite happy with the compliments he had just gotten from the human, so decided to return the favour.

"But seriously, your eyes are REALLY nice... Golden and brown... Like toffee and honey..." He said, trailing off slightly at the end, not wanting to go into full detail like Dib had.

"And you don't need to shut up, it's your thoughts. Zim doesn't mind listening."

Well, it was weird for Zim to do that. In a good way. The word 'Dib-ness' alone was funny, but the display of a laughing out loud Zim, sitting on his stomach and... laughing! Very nice to look at. And that's what Dib did. He didn't laugh, but just got a huge smile plastered all over his face. The longer Zim had his fun about his own joke, the more the boy's smile grew, until his teeth were greatly revealed.

When the Irken finally slumped back against on his chest, where he belonged, Dib just replied: "You're even more amazing when you laugh about your own joke and... heh, rather cute when you're giggling, Zimmy." After a quick peck on green lips, he continued.

"But it seems you can't stop thinking about candy, even when you're looking at me... Hmm... let's see," he then mumbled as he inspected Zim's eyes by grabbing his head with two hands and lightly turning it to the sides.

"...Strawberry? Maybe raspberry?... No... yeah, cherry! Your eyes remind me of cherries. Ya' know, round, glistening orbs of pure red. Well, in your case more oval , but still... when they're getting dark though, it's more like... a blackberry." He mumbled more to himself as Dib inspected his Irken's features.

Zim said he didn't mind listening, so... Yay for babbling! The last part was said rather absently. "...But your antenna tasted so much sweeter... than all these fruits together, Zim... it was yummy..." Meanwhile, Dib just looked at his Irken, head between his hands... and with that dreamily expression again!

At the mention of the word 'cute', Zim was about to go off into a rage, but that soon changed when his lips met Dib's; even if it was for only a second. So, the complaint was replaced with a slight blush, and that only increased when the other began to inspect him.

To be honest, he hadn't intended to compare Dib's eyes to candy... Just came out really. Oh well, it seemed to keep the conversation going. Even if it was slightly weird.

So, Dib was toffee and honey, and Zim was cherry and blackberry...? He had to hold back a laugh at that. What a odd thought... Being different types of food. Well, they'd both already been baloney... What an odd time that was. Hiding from the hungry dogs of the city. STILL didn't remember how they both got out of that. Oh well, they were back to themselves, that's the main thing.

The mentioning of his antennae was slightly embarrassing, yes, but also interesting... So, Dib had liked the scent... And the taste? Uh oh... Zim mentally groaned in annoyance. All things were pointing to one particular direction... And it didn't look good.

'Friends... FRIENDS,' he kept repeating in his head, almost trying to convince the evidence that it was wrong and to just go away! Yet, the dreamy expression that the other was doing only made his 'stomach' churn.

"Really?" He asked, almost whining, pleading for a different answer.

It was too late, since Dib already entered a 'wanting' state of mind. Zim just fed his other side so strongly... So he was just glad to have a reason to continue his praise of Zim, since the other asked for more; at least in Dib's view...

"Really! I can't compare it to anything I've eaten. It's... just so very intense and exotic..." Dib closed his eyes and concentrated on the memory of that taste. "...It was kinda l-like caffeine. Refreshing and... and I wanted to taste it again and again..."

Opening his eyes again, his hands placed themselves on the back of Zim's head, almost on their own. During the next few words, they sneakily trailed up to the place where his feelers were connected with the head, and gently massaged that area; the fingertips sometimes brushed lightly against the stalk's base.

"... Z-Zim I-I... I wanna taste it a-again... and I...-" Quickly, Dib buried his face into the other's neck. "Oh, Zim... I-I know I shouldn't do t-this, but... y-you smell so good and that taste..." Forcing his fingers to stop, the boy shuddered in a mix of fear and delight. Now he was a bit scared of himself.

"S-Some thing's so wrong with... m-me..." He desperately mumbled and panted against Zim's skin. He felt so hot all of a sudden.

The extended explanation didn't help in the slightest... Dib obviously thought that he was happy with what he said, so decided to continue... And that information wasn't Zim's idea of a 'different answer'...

If anything it was a sign which read: 'This way to awkward city' if they continued to speak about this subject. Or, if Zim repeated what it meant to like the scent and taste...

Ugh, why did this have to be so complicated!?

It didn't help when he felt Dib's fingers near his antennae again... OR when they momentarily met them. The Irken bit his lower lip and ignored the tingles which became present. Yet that was short lived as Dib turned from cheerful to... 'scared' would be the only word to describe it.

"Nothing's wrong with you Dib-friend..." He said, wrapping his arms around the other to try and comfort him. "It's just Irken genetics... I e-explained earlier... R-Remember?" He asked, really hoping he didn't have to repeat the meaning. It was embarrassing enough last time, so repeating would be worse!

"Y-Yeah, I remember it t-too well... B-But it's my fault I'm responding to it... l-like this! And I can't... really can't control it... like you can't control that... chemical either. Still... I-I'm the one who always, ALWAYS makes these awkward moments... It... s-shouldn't feel so nice... shouldn't feel so d-damn good, Zim! Why...Why can't we just talk n-normally for more than five minutes!? It's not possible... with my... my r-reactions. I-I'm feeling like such a pervert, Zim... S-Sometimes y-you attract me so... much. It's odd, so t-totally weird! A-And it didn't help that it... doesn't feel wrong... n-not in the slightest."

And again, like before but even worse, Dib was breaking down in Zim's arms... and soon he began to cry, so he nuzzled into Zim's neck even more, pressing his wet eyes against the soft skin. God, he felt like such a crybaby in that moment, so horribly ashamed of himself...

Poor Dib.

But the tears mercilessly streamed down his pale face. "... I-I'm s-sorry, Zim... now I'm crying again, so pathetic... but please... p-please d-don't go away. I... n-need help, it's all so confusing!" He desperately whined, followed by a few sobs. Oh, and there was still the scent... For the first time, Dib wished it would just go away. He refused to be affected by it so much, but of course it was a foolish thing to try.

At hearing a small, but certain sob leave Dib, Zim's eyes instantly widened in shock... He knew that this topic was a sensitive matter, but never did he expect it to cause Dib to break down entirely... He must really be confused... Zim suddenly felt like something inside of him had just torn in two at seeing the other in this state... So upset and beaten.

About to say something, he stopped, since now he could feel a liquid on his neck coming from Dib's eyes... Tears. Physically, it didn't sting like water would; but mentally, knowing that sorrow caused tears... Mentally it stung. Guilt mostly. Silently he cursed this 'sorrow' emotion, before deciding to try and speak again.

"Dib-friend... Please don't cry. Zim's not going anywhere. I promise. But please don't cry... It hurts to see you like this." Now, not only was he hugging Dib with his arms, but now he had wrapped his legs around the other's pair. And with both his arms and legs, hugged as tightly as he could, wanting to make sure that Dib knew that he wasn't leaving.

After a few seconds, Zim loosened the grip, since he knew it was probably hurting slightly.

The boy not really noticed Zim's hug before, but now... getting squeezed so tight with all limbs. Dib felt like a good chunk of his frustration was just squeezed out of him.

"...O-Okay, I'll try...but-" No. no 'but's! Zim was here and it was all that mattered. Nothing else was important. Just Zim. And not only since this moment... So, concentrating on the warmth from Zim on top of him and tying to ignore the scent, Dib sobbed one last time before he successfully stopped his tears from flowing. So, after two minutes or so, Dib spoke in a more calm tone.

"S-Sorry, I d-didn't want you to see me... like this. I-I know I'm hard to handle...but I'm just glad you're here. Y-You... make me happy, Zim. Right now, it don't looks like that, but... you really do." Imitating the other's hug from before, Dib caught Zim's legs with his own, sneaked his arms around his waist and took all his strength into this one hug, tensing his arms and legs so much, his muscles stung. But only after a whole minute or even more, he slowly loosened his iron grip around his Irken.

"... Zim... Z-Zimm... Zim!" He whined and hid his face into the crook of the other's neck again. Such a comfy place.

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by different kinds of feelings. All about Zim. Frustration, fear, confusion... but mostly safety, trust, deep intimacy, comfort. Pure happiness. He felt so alive and never thought he was able to feel that much! Being with Zim activated so much emotions in him; good and bad ones. Most of them were totally new to him, especially the good ones. But that were by far the strongest ones. It all flooded Dib entirely.

"Z-Z-Zim... I...I lo-"

He instantly stopped himself, when he was timely aware what he had almost said to the other. He almost said he loved Zim! But Dib was not scared or confused... just very, very surprised, since he never really used that term. Not even with his family. He felt like he didn't need any, since he got Zim. Quickly, he covered up his 'almost-confession'.

"I l-like you, Zim... umm really, r-really like you, yeah." He would have to sort out his feelings soon. It was more urgent than ever before.

Hearing no further crying, and the other's words, Zim let out a sigh of relief. If there was one thing he hated to see, was an upset Dib. But before he could respond, Dib copied the same hug he did just moments ago. It felt like Zim was getting crushed, yet for some reason, that wasn't a bad thing; since, it just proved that he did in fact make a difference to the other's mood.

The human's moods were so unpredictable. One minute happy, the other sad and confused. Yet he wasn't complaining! No. Zim just found it tricky to keep a track of how Dib was feeling without causing a breakdown like this... Dib seemed to let his emotions get the better of him. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. Like just now... At hearing his name whined out like that, the Irken felt chills go down his back for an unknown reason, but just ignored it. But it also caused him to become slightly worried again, thinking that maybe something was wrong.

That was short-lived though, since when Dib placed his face back against his neck, Zim could somehow sense that he was fine. And that's the way he liked it. A happy Dib. And if not that, at least, a non-upset one.

"Heh, I like you too, human." He replied, now smiling.

He found it kind of obvious though, if two people didn't 'like' each other, they couldn't be friends then, could they? Obviously not. Yet, it seemed like the other was going to say something before... But thought better of it. 'Oh well,' Zim thought, shrugging slightly to himself.

Still, concerned about what he almost confessed to Zim, Dib made it to store that worries in the back of his mind for now.

"I c-can tell..." He tried to lighten the mood, mostly his own. His trembling was rather faint now, but still there, since he couldn't really stop it. Not when Zim was so close and smelling so... No! Not again. Dib tried to ignore the scent his all his might. It seemed to work, since he stayed calm. He felt so vulnerable, since he showed such a emotional side to the Irken. Somehow... naked. A naked soul, lying helplessly beneath Zim. Dib didn't know he got that in him. It was powerful. Scary and... mostly pleasant. Otherwise he would already run off, not coming back to the base for a long while, that was sure. But now, the boy was glued to his Irken. In some ways. Being far too crumbled up to speak 'normally' he mumbled against the other's neck.

"...T-Thank you, Zim... ya' know, for being here, f-for being so a-amazing..." Dib tightly squeezed the Irken again with all his remained energy. "...F-For being mine..." He whispered that last part and gave Zim several long, affectionate licks to his neck. For Dib, the taste was rather similar to the one Zim's antenna created, but so much more weaker... But it helped to keep his mind together for the most part.

The second tight hug wasn't as spine-crushing as the first one, but still enough to cause slight discomfort. Zim went to speak during it, but found he couldn't. Since his voice was all cracked from being squished. As soon as the tight hug was over, he took a deep breath in, before talking.

"You're welcome. And thank YOU for not snapping my spine," he said, smirking slightly, whilst straightening his back from its previous squashed position.

Yet, that smirk was soon replaced with half-lidded eyes as Zim felt the other's tongue on his neck. Any of these type of touches were still new to the Irken, and caused unexplainable feelings to become present in his 'stomach', chest and mind. It mainly consisted of a warm, happy feeling and excited, tingling sensations.

The only downer side was, that they mainly turned out to almost 'curse' Dib's mind later on... Causing a scene like moments ago. A confused and upset human beneath him. This time it was only a momentary thing, so no big deal... yet.

So, deciding to change the mood of the moment, Zim thought it may be best to bring back Dib's previous idea. "D-Do you think you c-could show Zim how to ride one of your two-wheeled death traps now?" He asked, hoping that it wasn't too much of a random request.

To be honest, Dib was slightly taken aback by Zim's suggestion, but... right, it was originally his own offer! He completely forgot that, after all his 'struggling'... Obviously, Zim wanted to end this moment to make Dib feel better and forget about his emotional problems. That fact brought a smile to Dib's face.

'Zim really cares about me...' he thought and stroked one last time over Zim's neck. "Okay, if y-you want to try it n-now... we could go to my house or... I can bring the bike here." Still, Dib didn't make an attempt to get up. Instead he used his tongue again. This time by leaning back and licking Zim's cheek. Grinning up at him, Dib chuckled.

"S-Seriously, Zim... YOU on a bicycle, trying not to fall off or even ride it... Hehe, it's way too funny not to try it." In just a few moments, Zim had been able to make him smile again.

Slightly offended by the last comment, Zim narrowed his eyes slightly. "You don't think I can do it? If the Dib-human can, so can Zim!" He said, before leaning forward and smirking. "We shall see who's the superior bike rider!" He added, before sitting up and reaching for his wig and contacts.

Well, of course he would turn this into a competition, like he did with everything. But to him, it was more fun to do it that way. A reason to want to succeed in an activity. Plus, if he actually managed to ride a bike, it was a chance to boast. And to get his dignity back from that stupid, STUPID belt. 'Ugh... Stupid snake-thing...' Zim mentally complained, remembering the trouble he had with it. And what followed after- No!

Anyway, he was just happy to see Dib's smile again. "See? You look better when you smile, human." He said, whilst putting on his disguise.

Blushing at Zim's last comment, Dib tried to cover it up by replying smugly. "Well, if I am the teacher, then even YOU should be able to learn in no time!" He said and shoved Zim off of him, so he was falling backwards on the couch.

Quickly, Dib towered over him and smirked even more. "Sooo... let's get over to my house, since you already put on your disguise."

With that, the boy left the couch, grabbed his socks and boots and put them on. He was already at the door, when Dib looked back to Zim and noticed... how blurry the other was.

"Umm... do you know where my glasses are?" He asked, feeling a bit goofy.

Sitting up from his pushed over state, Zim re-positioned his wig which had moved slightly from the unexpected fall before returning to watch Dib getting ready.

"That was uncalled for, don't you think?" He asked, referring to the shove he had just so rudely received. Of course it hadn't hurt, but just wanted the other to know that he hadn't appreciated it. Yet, the question which appeared changed that subject for the moment.

Looking from one armrest to the other, he spotted Dib's glasses sitting neatly on the side. So, reaching over, Zim picked them up and made his way over to Dib, smiling smugly.

"Nope, Zim has no idea," he teased, hiding the precious object behind his back.

"Come on human," he said in an almost sing-song voice, whilst opening the door with his free hand; thinking of this as his mini-revenge for the shove just now.

"No, I don't think it was uncalled for; it was fun seeing you surprised." Dib playfully replied.

"Why did you open the door? You know I can't see outside. I can't even ride a bike myself without them and- wait a moment!" Dib took a step and closely inspected Zim's face with both hands on his hips.

"...Why are you grinning, Zim... And why do you sound so amused?" Soon, his eyes widened in recognition. "I know that face. You're hiding something... Give them to me, Zim!" He demanded. Smirking smugly, Dib added "...Or you won't get back your... wig!"

Suddenly, he had Zim's fake hair in his hand and ran into the kitchen.

Confused, Zim tilted his head to the side slightly. "What are you talking about? I have my w-" Watching the retreating human, Zim noticed a certain amount of black hair in his hands... His wig! Instantly he jumped out the view of the open door, to the wall next to it.

Yes, no-one was outside, but he wasn't risking it. So, pushing the door shut from the side, Zim glared after Dib, and as soon as the door was shut, he gave chase.

Almost like another battle really. Dib after the glasses, and Zim after his wig. Only trouble was... the kitchen was still a mess. Mentally, Zim cursed GIR, and made his way around the toppled fridge and over to the human.

"Give it!" Was all he yelled, as he lunged towards the wig; making sure to keep the glasses out of the other's reach.

Already laughing, Dib only just dodged Zim's attack. Swiftly, the boy climbed onto the stove. Then he put the wig on his own raven-black.

"You look better without this mop of fake hair, Zimmy... and you still got my glasses! Right there! You were the one who started this. Heheh. It's your fault, not mine."

Damn, he was so happy again, playing with Zim like old buddies. And looking down at Zim from that height was a nice change too.

One thing was for sure, Zim wasn't going to give up on this 'battle'. Yet, now seeing Dib on the stove made the task seem a bit more tricky.

"Hey! Get down." He commanded, pointing to the floor in front of him to get his point across; yet to no change. Tapping his foot, he tried to think of other ways to get that wig, and suddenly got one. Probably wouldn't work, but worth a shot.

So, walking to a side of the stove, he started jumping as high as he would, reaching for the other's head. That didn't work either. Damn. Another idea popped up in his head almost immediately after, which caused him to groan to himself.

Why didn't he just do this sooner?

Using his PAK, Zim brought out his spider legs and hoisted himself up to Dib's level, arms crossed.

"Ahem?" He coughed, reaching out an arm and making a motion with his hand as if to say: 'give it'.

It was adorable for Dib to watch how Zim was trying to reach him by jumping, but before he was able to laugh, the Irken was suddenly by his side, on eye-to-eye level.

Of course!

Now he felt like a fool, standing on that stove in a futile attempt to flee from his friend. Oh well, it was fun. Grumbling, the boy reached for the wig and placed it sloppily on the other's bold head, still with a small smile on the lips.

"There, you've won. Zim: 2, Dib: 1 so far."

In a quick motion, his hand was suddenly behind Zim's head. Leaning forward, Dib rubbed his nose between Zim's eyes and gave him a peck there with half-lidded amber eyes. Leaning slightly back he grinned at Zim and mumbled, pointing to the spider-legs.

"But these things won't help you to ride a bike ya' know..." Dib giggled and made puppy-eyes. "Now you can give me my glasses, right?" He teasingly pleaded.

Blushing slightly, Zim just stared at Dib's eyes, and because of the face he was pulling, somehow it made his chest feel warm inside. The mix of gold and brown... Honey and toffee...

Quickly shaking his head slightly, to snap the trance which the other's eyes seemed to cause, he lifted up his hand which held the glasses.

"Oh. Uhh, yeah." He mumbled, placing the glasses on the human's face, but -unlike the human's work with his wig- this time he put them on correctly... If slightly crooked.

After a few moments of debating, Zim wrapped his arms around Dib's torso, and using his PAK legs, picked him up slightly before placing him back down on the kitchen floor. Once they were both back on the ground, he retracted the legs and made his way over to the door, whilst straightening out the wig.

"Now that we've both got what we need, we can go," he stated, opening the door once again.

After his vision cleared, Dib was about to jump down, but found, he wasn't able to. Zim was hugging him... and before he could hug back, he was already standing on the floor again.

"...You don't have to carry me..." He mumbled to himself as he followed Zim. But... standing beside him, Dib said: "It's sad that you can't use your spider-legs outside. Because... maybeee I could ride you piggyback, since you like to carry me," he teased. Smirking even wider, he seriously thought about it.

"Yeah... at night, when nobody can see us, we could do that. Heh, yeah... Dib is riding the Zim-spider! Doesn't that sounds nice, hmm?" He mocked and laughed about his own words. "B-But first... haha... let us get the bikes." Dib just snatched Zim's hand and dragged him outside.

"Well, you looked almost stuck up there," Zim argued as they got outside. Sunny as usual. Second time out of the base and the weather kept fine. They were quite lucky. But then again, it was summer and the weather was usually like this. Even a bit too warm sometimes. But no, today is was just fine.

"You know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Heh, we could even go on the rooftops; like that time when you messed with Tak's ship. Well, we both did... But this time... Less backflips. Ugh..." Zim cringed at that memory. Dib had reprogrammed Tak's ship to his personality, then Zim had programmed it back... That resulted in a heck load of backflips.

"Stupid female..." He mumbled to himself at the mention of her name. Oh how he hated her... But she wasn't important. He'd only mentioned her to bring back the memory. So, shaking his head slightly, he quickened his pace so that he was now next to Dib, rather than slightly behind.

The Dib's face lit up at Zim's suggestion of climbing on the rooftops. "Yeah..." The boy mumbled when the pictures formed in his head.

He saw himself sitting on a blanket, on the highest roof, watching the stars and... cuddling. It was almost... romantic? Quickly, he tried to delete this world by shaking his head.

"O-Okay...let's climb some rooftops tonight, Zim. Sounds like fun! But first..." He added and nudged the other's shoulder. "...Let's make sure you don't accidentally make any backflips when you're learning how to ride it."

Chuckling, he looked ahead. So they walked down the street again, hand-holding and such... After some minutes, Dib's house, his 'old home', came into view. He really wasn't happy to go in there, even for a while.

Zim simply rolled his eyes at Dib's small joke, yet couldn't help but smile slightly. It was kind of funny; even as friends they still teased each other, but these type of ones weren't out of spite or anger, but more of... affectionate teasing... If that even made sense. Probably not, but that's what it was.

A few minutes or so later, Zim noticed a slight change in the human next to him. So, looking up to view Dib's face, he could see a ever so slight frown. Following his gaze, he saw what the other was looking at.

Ahead was the familiar grey, rectangular building which was Dib's house. Dib didn't look too happy to see it, which was slightly concerning. After a few moments, they both were standing outside the perimeter of the property. Zim could understand Dib's situation, so squeezed the other's hand to hopefully reassure him.

Dib thankfully squeezed back as much as he could. Then he fell into musings again... Strange, but for Dib it felt like he was living at Zim's base for quite a while now, not for only just 3 days... and that he was just visiting his own house. Noticing the squeezing, Dib looked at his Irken friend beside him.

The frown turned into a fond smile. 'Yeah... things have changed! Very much so,' he thought as he mustered Zim's face. The Irken was caring. Even showed some empathy, at least for Dib.

Silently walking ahead, they passed the street's name sign. Dib looked up. It reads 'Membrane Street'. The boy only shook his head at that. He remembered well... Around a year ago, the city determined to give this street the name of the famous Professor Membrane, in honour for his great achievements in Science. It was one of the few occasions Dib actually saw his father.

At the prospect or more fame and money, he showed up along with the major to announce his pride on TV, to have a whole street named by him... He even dragged Dib before the camera, announcing he would be the future heir of the 'Membrane Empire'. It was sad, since his father got no time for his small family, for his children, but for stupid things like a new street's name.

Sure, Dib wanted to have his own fame by showing Zim as the alien he was, on national TV. But that changed. He wasn't interested in such things anymore. Now he began to see the true self of Zim. Or maybe, a new side of him... An emotional and caring side. Nothing proved that more than small gestures like his squeezing of Dib's hand or just simple questions like 'are you okay?' And last but not least... that affectionate nickname 'Dib-friend'.

Only Zim was could think of such a name... All that stuff shot through his big head, so he wasn't aware for how long he stood there, just looking up at the sign with a blank expression, playing with Zim's hand being the only thing noticeable.

For a good 3 minutes or so, they both just stood there. Dib staring at the sign, and Zim wondering what he was doing. It was like the sign had just hypnotized the human in some strange way.

After a few moments, he decided to read what was actually on that sign. And as he did, he partly understood what had Dib so interested in it. He guessed that the other's thoughts were mainly based around his father, Professor Membrane, since the sign read 'Membrane Street'.

Even Zim knew that, that scientist didn't spend any time with Dib or his sister, Gaz. Part of him felt extremely sorry for them both, and the other a slight hatred towards the Professor. What he knew of human families, was that parents usually cared and spent time with their children... Obviously this one was an exception. Fame had clearing gotten the better of Dib's father... Maybe that's why he didn't like his own house? Since his father wasn't there?

After checking no-one was around to see, Zim quickly wrapped his arms around Dib's torso in a hug, before backing up before anyone saw. If someone did, it'd just bring embarrassment to them both. But he wanted some way to cheer up the other, since that blank look was kind of creepy...

This street sign was obviously not a good thing, Zim decided, so began to walk on, pulling the other along.

Thinking of a caring Zim, suddenly Dib felt the same one squeezing him. And before he could even respond the same way, he was already behind the Irken and stumbled a bit before quickly catching up.

"Heh, umm... must have look weird, seeing me standing there and... thinking. S-Sorry," Dib apologized and rubbed his neck a bit embarrassed.

"I'll try n-not to do that anymore, okay Zim?"

They reached the small garage beside the building. Dib pressed a button on a corner and the door slowly opened, revealing Tak's ship, in the centre of mostly typical garage-junk. Dib already gave up messing with the Irken ship, since the technology in it was far too complicated to be fixed by Dib himself...

Anyhow, he intentionally ignored the ship, released Zim's hand and throdded into the shadows.

When he came back, he wheeled his old mountain-bike, pulling out the stand and got beside Zim again, grinning again. The mere thought of... well, Zim and a bike is a funny mixture.

"What do you think, Zimmy?" He innocently asked with the hands behind his back.

"Still got the ship then?" Zim asked, walking next to the ship to have a better look.

He'd have to admit, it was quite an advanced piece of machinery compared to his voot cruiser. Apparently Tak had built it herself though, so he wasn't going to give it that much credit. It was just another Irken ship to him anyway.

At hearing Dib's question, he quickly looked around and saw what the other had just gone to fetch.

A bike.

Instantly Zim's eyes widened at the sight. He'd never seen a bike up close before or enough to actually see one in detail. So it was quite interesting. Zim knelt down on the ground before the vehicle to inspect it in detail.

Obviously there were 2 wheels, and inside were mini bar-things... Probably to stop it from weakening. Taking hold of one of the pedals in his hand, he turned it backwards and watched the chains go round. Heh, it was quite fun to be honest. The main bar which supported the whole thing had a few chips in the paint, but still looked like new. Zim knocked on the metal and listened to the sound. Well, it wasn't hollow, so it wasn't going to collapse. Good quality.

Realizing what he was doing, Zim quickly stood back up. "I-It's okay... S-Still a death-trap if you a-ask me."

Dib had no idea if Zim would be able to repair the ship. He decided to ask that later.

"I got something for that..." Dib answered and got into the garage. After some rumbling sounds, he walked out again... and held a helmet in his hands. With a sudden movement it was neatly placed on Zim. Suppressing his laugher, Dib commented the thing.

"T-There. This... s-should prevent your nice head f-from...being damaged and..." He couldn't hold it any longer and burst out laughing.

The magnificent Zim... with a bike helmet! It was too funny to stay serious.

Soon, Dib was sitting on the soil, holding his belly with a red head.

At the sight of the helmet, Zim instantly narrowed his eyes and backed up a step. He shook his head slowly at Dib, as if to say: 'you can't be serious...' Obviously he was. There was a sudden weight difference on top of his head, and in the reflection on the ship's glass he could see himself.

With a helmet on...

Turning back around to Dib, he could see him laughing like a madman, clearing amused... Immediately Zim broke out in a blush, crossed his arms and pouted slightly in annoyance and embarrassment.

"We'll see who's laughing when you fall off and smash your head open!" He mumbled, giving the bike next to him a glance. Feeling mega embarrassed now, he took off the helmet and held it to his chest protectively. He didn't trust this bike at all...

Wiping the last tears out of his eyes after some moments of more laughing, Dib stood up and pointed to the helmet Zim was clinging to. "Come on, Zim. You just have to wear this thing, until you can ride a bike properly. Beside...-" He mumbled, and placed the helmet on Zim's head again, this time buckling it so it would stay there. "-You look even more funny than with that 'special hat' on, remember? And... I won't smash my head, since YOU are the one who's riding the bike. It's funny when you're mumbling to yourself like this."

With that, he literally shoved Zim to the bike, since he looked... suspicious and didn't move by his own. Of course, Dib noticed this and got more serious. "Look at me... you won't fall off, Zim. Not my amazing Zimmy! You will surely beat this bike. And if you don't trust it then... trust me, I'll hold you, 'kay?"

All the while, Dib tried to not look to the helmet. Otherwise, he would laugh again, which wasn't very neat, since Zim needed some encouragement. Turning to the bike, Dib explained.

"Now, first you have to sit on that thing here, called a saddle, while placing your feet onto these pedals down there. Hold onto me, to keep your balance."

Zim couldn't help but feel slightly more confident after Dib's reassuring words. Yes, he trusted Dib, just not the bike... Sighing, he poked the saddle questioningly a few times, making sure that it wouldn't just collapse. And after a few more moments of inspecting, he felt like he could trust it enough to actually sit on it.

So, jumping up onto the seat, Zim then positioned himself so that his legs were either side of the bar. The bike wobbled a few times, so instantly he put a hand on Dib's shoulder, like he said to. It wasn't even moving yet and he was worried.

Zim was seriously regretting agreeing to this...

His feet were still on the ground, well... his toes were, since the seat was slightly too high.

Okay... now the pedals.

Looking down, he easily found them, and forced his feet off the ground so they were resting on the pedals.

"Oh Irk..." He whined as the bike wobbled again, but soon settled again.

"O-Okay... Now what?" He quickly asked, wanting to get this over with and get off the 'death-trap' as soon as possible.

'Zim is seriously scared...' was the first thing Dib thought about the display before him. Well, who could blame him. The Irken never saw a bike in his life. So it was normal to be at least suspicious.

Zim truly was like a child in that moment.

Smiling, Dib instructed him further. "Good. Now you have to lean slowly forward and place your hands on the handlebar. Here." Dib took hold of Zim by firmly putting both hands on each side of the Irken, so his right arm was draped around Zim's back.

"I'll hold you the whole time, Zim. Promised." Folding up the stand, Dib now supported Zim and the bike. "Now, move your feet just like when you're walking normally. Push the pedals with your feet."

At hearing the next few instructions, Zim bit down on his lip slightly... This was so embarrassing...

He, a fully trained Irken invader, couldn't do what most Earth children could do!? Oh the shame.

Yet, how Dib was supporting both him, and the bike, made it feel slightly safer... Slightly.

Zim took hold of the handlebars in front of him, and leaned forward slightly, just as told. And after a few moments of his feet being frozen, he eventually got them to move. Almost instantly the bike moved forward a bit, which caused him to stop.

So... that's what made it go... Alright... Taking a deep breath in, he began to pedal once again...

Zim would really choose a nice, stable, SAFE voot cruiser over a bike, any day...

However, for Dib it was nothing to be embarrassed about. He was sure that Zim would learn it in no time. So he was quite happy to see how the Irken tried to do his best.

"Exactly. See, that's how you move the bike," he praised the others effort, while slowly walking beside him. "The faster you move your feet, the faster the bike will get. Simple, right?"

When Dib looked at Zim's face, he saw a very concentrated expression. He never saw his friend that focused before. Yet, it was obvious how very concerned to his safety the Irken was.

"Very nice Zim. Really. Now... the handle bar is moveable, so you can change the direction to where the bike is moving. Here.." With one hand, Dib grabbed the left handle and carefully moved it to the left. Otherwise, they would drive onto the street, so it would be the best to get behind the house. A nice soft lawn. Perfect for such a 'lesson'.

Both of them slowly made their way beside the house to the backyard.

"Y-Yeah, simple to b-be explained! Not simple to d-do..." Zim complained, as he just focused on keeping his feet going at a steady pace. No way was he going faster than this... Especially since the bike was now turning a corner...

He could just imagine the thing toppling over any moment, as well as him! It probably wouldn't hurt, he was just worried about his dignity at that moment in time. He'd been so confident back at the base, talking about who was going to be 'the superior bike-rider'... Ugh. It was a lot more tricky than it seemed at the time...

Wait.

Zim had basically turned this into a contest back at the base, so, how was it meant to prove anything if he hadn't seen Dib ride the accursed thing?

"M-Maybe you could show Zim h-how to ride this t-thing properly? S-since y-you seem to know so much a-about it." He asked, in a half sarcastic tone, just wanting to get off the bike.

"Not until we reached the backyard. Just a few more meters." Dib replied plainly. And after a minute or so, they were there.

"Sure, Zim. If that makes you learn it better by watching me..." Zim's nervousness was quite amusing to watch, but didn't make a comment, since it would be rude to laugh about the Irken. Dib highly doubted Zim would ever use a bike, even if he would learn to ride it. Surely, the other didn't feel the need to use such a 'tricky Earth-vehicle' any time soon.

Helping Zim get off, Dib climbed on the saddle and slowly began to move, making a big circle around Zim.

"The main problem to learn it is mostly to keep your balance during the ride. But the more you sit on the saddle, the more your body gets used to it automatically and soon the falling off turns into wobbling and someday... you're able to sit straight without any wobbling and are ready to ride faster. At least, that's the method I used, since I taught it by myself."

Dib was a bit proud of that last part but also sad, since his father didn't teach it to him, like it was normal for other children.

He kept moving in a circle around Zim. It was fun to watch the Irken. His... intrigued looks.

"And we will do this little lesson everyday from now on, until you can ride on your own down the street." Dib announced and couldn't help but giggle, since it was meant as a joke, but wanting to see Zim's reaction to it.

Once his feet were firmly back on the ground, Zim let out a sigh of relief. No more wobbling or fear of falling over. And his dignity was in one piece! Watching Dib as he began to ride in circles, he turned at the same speed so he could keep watch of what the other was doing. Well, he was going a lot faster than Zim had on the way to the backyard, and looked a heck lot more confident. Of course he would though; he was used to it.

"Show-off..." Zim mumbled, crossing his arms whilst still spinning. It looked so easy when Dib did it, so simple! Well, he wasn't going to take that for granted again. It was difficult as heck!

After a few moments he was becoming quite dizzy, all the spinning whilst watching the other make circles. And at the mention of more lessons, Zim almost chocked on the breath he was just taking.

"W-WHAT!?" He yelled, instantly stopping his turning. That was a bad idea, since one of his feet kept moving which caused him to trip and fall over.

So much for no falling over and dignity.

"...Helmet works..." He mumbled whilst sitting up.

At least the stupid hat was worth something... Even if it wasn't the bikes fault for the tumble.

Dib, laughing, got off the bike and kneeled down next to Zim.

"That's what the helmet is made for. Hehe, you're okay?" Dib goofily grinned at the Irken and sat beside him. "And you've heard right. No more cuddling or kissing, until you can ride it like me just now."

At seeing Zim's 'not-amused' face, he smugly added. "Hey, you were the one who practically claimed to be the 'superior biker', Zimmy! And for that, you need to learn and fall, ride and wearing the helmet. Day for day for day..."

Now it was really hard not to laugh, not to even grin! Dib just hoped he wouldn't get slapped by Zim.

Every word that Dib said, caused Zim's eyes to get wider, yet before they reached their full size, narrowed to an annoyed glare. The human was really enjoying this... And that only annoyed him even more.

"You... You annoying human!" He yelled, balling his hands into fists to suppress his anger.

Recently he wasn't one to get annoyed with Dib, but now this just took the nerve.

Zim went to go take off the helmet, but found that the strap below his chin was preventing that. So, moving his hands to the buckle, it seemed that it was another version of the belt... Impossible for him to undo.

After a few moments, he gave up and just fell backwards onto the grass once again.

"Stupid planet!" He yelled, before hitting the ground with his fists, as if it could, in some way, harm it.

That was certainly NOT the reaction Dib hoped for.

"Zim...!?" The boy reached forward to help him with the helmet, but couldn't since the Irken fell on his back and wreaked his anger on the soil.

Now, Dib felt incredibly stupid for being so... mean. He realized it wasn't really funny, so Zim's reaction was kinda understandable.

Quickly, he opened the buckle and threw the helmet away.

"I-I'm sorry, Zim. I didn't mean to... anger you so much. It was only a joke. Really! We can just forget the stupid bike, if you want. You don't have to ride it. I'm a jerk... sorry." Dib bowed his head a bit and mumbling added: "... And of course I don't w-wanna stop c-cuddling with you or kissing you or, w-well all that stuff... It was stupid to make a joke about it, Zim."

Fiddling with his thumbs, he wanted to say more, but turned against it. He didn't like it when he was babbling so much and maybe it annoys Zim sometimes too.

All the while, Zim was glaring at the back of Dib's head.

If looks could kill, that's all you could say.

But that didn't last long, since once he had heard all the other had to say, he stopped clawing at the ground, and instead started pulling out grass.

"Yes, an almighty jerk," he added, smirking slightly.

The Irken was a lot less annoyed now that he knew it was a joke. He was just still slightly annoyed at the reminder of his past words, and the embarrassment from having their 'moments' brought up just increased the mild frustration... He was never good at controlling his temper.

"Next time you're joking, make a hint or something..." He suggested, changing his gaze from Dib's head, to the sky. Slightly cloudy, but the sun still streaming through the few clouds.

Watching the other's plucking claws, Dib tried to explain himself. "W-Well, to be honest, I thought you would see it as a joke too. A teasing one, yeah, but still... Y-You know h-how much I enjoy our... p-private moments, despite all my 'emotional stuff' sometimes. So I guessed you would know I would never want to stop that a-and...Urgh, nevermind."

'I'm such a babbler!' Dib mentally scolded himself.

Before, he accidentally said more stupid things, Dib just let himself fall to the ground, but a meter away from Zim. He wanted to kiss him, especially in this moment, but didn't want to upset the Irken with more touches. With stuff he recently joked about...

Hearing a slight thud to the side of him, Zim turned his head in the direction of the noise and -not too surprisingly- saw that Dib had followed his lead and also lay down on the grass.

To be honest, it was a kind of nice place to just lay down and talk. So, maybe this 'bike lesson' hadn't been a total waste of time after all. After a few moments of debating with himself, Zim thought that maybe he should apologize as well.

"...You're not THAT annoying, by the way..." He mumbled, giving up with his grass-killing and just putting his arms by his side.


	38. Chapter 38

Those few words caused a warm smile forming on Dib's lips. So, in a playful tone he replied: "Heh, yes I AM annoying... and still, you put up with me. But maybe-"

He rolled on his side, facing Zim and resting his face onto the elbow.

"-Maybe I got... some other qualities or perhaps you just need an annoying Dib around you so you wouldn't get bored. Who knows...?"

The boy mustered Zim's face one last time, before laying back on his back, but not without shuffling a few centimetres closer to Zim. 'My prey...' he thought and smiled evilly to himself but spoke as innocently as possible.

"Ya' know, Zim... when people are looking at the clouds like now calmly laying on the grass, sometimes they see stuff in them. They imagine the clouds to be things or persons... when the form resembles it. Sooo... are YOU able to see anything with your superior Irken fantasy?"

Dib's question was an unexpected one to say the least, but a reasonable one too. So, looking back at the sky, Zim focused on trying to find a shape of some resemblance, but all he could see were the same old clouds...

No figures or people... Just a load of fluff in the sky. Even after scanning every cloud in view, still they just looked ordinary.

"Uhh... white cotton candy...?" He tried, shrugging slightly. "I don't know, they just look ordinary."

How could anyone find anything interesting in these things? Or why would anyone want to? Zim had never even thought twice about them before. They were just... there. But now he was kind of interested.

"What can you see then?"

"Ummm..."

Narrowing his eyes a bit, Dib tried to see... something. After some seconds of searching he saw something.

A rectangle...Two big ovals...with two longish sticks on it... and beside it all could which looked like... hooks? No, claws! Dib slightly blushed. He saw... Zim... in some clouds!

"Ummm.. I-I see. Well, t-to be honest, some clouds, like this one-" he pointed to the 'rectangular' "-a-are looking like your head, in my mind. T-That probably sounds weird, doesn't it?" He shyly asked, looking over to Zim.

"J-Just you... normally I see ordinary things like books or people in it, but not now... not anymore" He mumbled that last part, wondering about how he never saw Zim in the clouds before. Well, not that he did it so often in the past. Cloud-looking. With a friend...

Changing his gaze in the direction of Dib's pointing finger, Zim found the cloud that he meant. But personally, he couldn't find anything that resembled him. After a good minute of staring, he finally managed to work out what Dib saw.

"...Looks nothing like me." He stated, turning his head to face Dib. Yet, Dib was already looking at him. "And it doesn't sound weird. It actually sounds pretty cool to be floating candy floss," he said, chuckling slightly.

Yeah, Zim still remembered Dib's explanation on clouds from the other day, but he still thought of them as that. Sounded a lot better than 'gathering gas'. "I guess you just have a bigger imagination when it comes to cloud-shapes," he said, not knowing what else to call them. Looking back at the sky, he watched the cloud Dib had pointed out move until it was out of sight.

The first thing Dib did was get a little bit closer to the Irken. "Yeah, it's a good, but sometimes also a bad thing to have... such a 'vivid' imagination." Dib replied meekly, blush not leaving his face.

"But... you're far better than everything I can imagine, I-"

Well, that sounded cheesy.

"...I-I mean... well, you're Zim and... and I never imagined we could be friends a-and... now we're lying here. It's real, so... it's not a dream and... and... umm, Z-Zim-"

Suddenly, Dib couldn't speak any further. With every word about Zim, he drifted more 'off'. With shut eyes and since he was now close to Zim, he blindly tapped his hand in search for... there! Silently, he grabbed Zim's hand and rested it on his chest, rubbing and squeezing.

After some caressing, he hesitantly brought the three-clawed hand to his mouth and gave it tiny little kisses all over the soft palm. Dib cupped his cheek with it and... kissed the hand again. Thinking about Zim while speaking was getting rather difficult. But touching him was getting more and more reassuring.

That he wasn't 'insane'.  
That he wasn't lonely.  
That he got someone who cares.  
A real friend. Zim. Zim. Zim...

It was only when Dib grabbed his hand that Zim realized how close the other had gotten... When had he moved closer anyway? Oh well, he didn't mind at all. In fact, he was quite happy about their closeness.

Zim let out a small content sigh, before turning his head towards the wall of Dib's house. He'd seen many 'normal Earth' houses, and comparing them all to his base was always slightly concerning. When he first arrived, he hadn't seen many, so it looked normal at the time. Maybe green walls and a purple roof weren't so 'normal' after all. Oh well, nothing he could do. It just reminded him on that, looking at the other's house.

Zim's thoughts got interrupted when he felt something other than Dib's hands on his own one. So, turning his gaze back to the human, he saw that his hand was receiving small kisses. Odd, but he wasn't going to complain. It was nice actually... in a strange way. And it was only when Dib placed his hand on his cheek that Zim noticed that he had a slight blush. He didn't understand why though... it was a normal conversation to him.

Oh well, he found Dib kind of... cute, when he blushed- What?

Ugh... There he was, using the 'cute' word again... Zim shook his head slightly, and shuffled closer to Dib, so their shoulders met. They were already so close, so he didn't think it mattered.

When Dib felt the small touch of the other's shoulder, his dreamy smile turned into that evil one again... Perfect. He kinda somehow expected that move from Zim. Getting closer. Close enough to...

Releasing Zim's hand for now, Dib tensed all his muscles and in one single movement, quickly turned to the side, grabbed Zim's waist and hoisted the whole Irken with all his power up to his chest, so the Irken slumped on top of him. Luckily, Zim was rather light...

Instantly, the boy wrapped his arms around his friend and squeezed him a few times, getting his point across. "Mine!" He grinned up at the surprised Zim, whose face was priceless! Dib really didn't mind that they were in the backyard of his house. Actually, he found it quite exciting, thinking of cuddling under the shining sun. Well, he found everything concerning Zim exciting. At least.

Well, one thing was for sure, Zim had NOT been expecting that. Especially since they were both in Dib's backyard. One moment on the warm grass, the next on top of the human. Who wouldn't it shock?

He let out a surprised yelp at the sudden movement, before staring wide-eyed at Dib's grinning face. After a few seconds the shock wore off, and so did Zim's startled face, which was replaced with a slight glare. They stayed like that for a moment or so, but as soon as Zim realized that his glare wasn't having any effect, he gave up.

Sighing, he rested his chin on the other's chest. "Stupid human..." He mumbled, whilst freeing his arms from the other's grip, and hugging Dib in return.

Zim's mumble was quite amusing to hear, because he still hugged the boy back. "So... annoying AND stupid? Heh, seems you found the right one to be friends with, Zimmy. Since we got that in common I guess. My obnoxious Spaceboy..."

Dib moved the Irken closer to his face, so he could nuzzle the other's cheek with his own.

"You're squishy... and light, so I could carry you around. And sooo innocent sometimes about stuff..." Dib complimented out of nowhere. Typical him. He wasn't sure if Zim even understood what 'innocent' means, but as long as he knew it was something positive it was fine. After some non-awkward, relaxing silence, Dib spoke up.

"...And I guess you don't wanna sit on a bike ever again...?" He mumbled against Zim's neck and didn't really care for the answer. He just wanted to tease Zim. Just a little bit.

For the 'obnoxious' comment, Zim was about to argue; but, yet again, he was silenced by the rubbing on their cheeks. Dib seemed to do that a few times now. Make a comment and then do an action which made Zim instantly forgive him...

Like he said before... 'Stupid human.'

"No. Bikes are EVIL. I think I'll stick with my voot cruiser from now on..." He simply answered, giving the bike on the other side of the backyard a glare, before resting his head back down.

His voot cruiser was stable and trustworthy, unlike that stupid pile of metal over there. Maybe one day he could teach Dib how to fly a Irken ship. Heh, that'd be interesting. It'd be funny to see the same unsure look on Dib's face that he had made when on that accursed bike.

Unaware of the Irken's possible future plans, Dib thought amused how Zim-like that answer was. Most Earth things were evil, while his own stuff better and superior. Well, who could blame him, since to Zim, Earth was a planet full of aliens. Except for one certain human...

And as for Dib... Zim was still an alien in general, but not regarding the Irken's personality and emotions... Well, there was still so much to learn about him, but Dib already learned so much about his Irken friend like he wasn't able to in all the years before. In moments like these, you don't even have to speak to learn about each other. For Dib at least... Yet again, that didn't stop him from his babbling, but since Zim said he didn't mind listening... Dib just spoke out his mind. Sometimes that was good. Sometimes rather careless.

"Okay... but that means you have to sit all the more on ME instead. Your Dib-couch. At least, you won't fall off... it's safe on me." Dib couldn't help but giggle about what he was saying. It sounded so childish, yet it felt right to kid around a bit.

"Well that's fine. If it's that, or the stupid bike, then this option is better... And safer," Zim agreed, blushing slightly. He was just glad he'd never have to go near that stupid thing ever again.

Sighing, Zim let his thoughts silence, and just focused on the moment. The warm sun shining through the few clouds, a soft human to lie on, and a ever so slight breeze. It was moments like this that he didn't mind this planet so much.

Earth did sometimes have a few good qualities. One special one particular. The being beneath him. Dib. Yeah, his human. Yet, Dib seemed to be having too much fun bringing up the bike incident every now and then, so Zim thought that maybe this was the right moment to speak his thoughts.

"You know, maybe it's your turn to be the student. What if Zim teaches you how to pilot an Irken ship? It'd be fun to see YOUR panic face." He knew that Dib must be interested in spacecrafts, since he still kept Tak's old ship... Yet it seemed broken. That's probably the reason it looked so unused, since it was.

Zim changed his gaze to Dib's face, waiting for an answer.

"... M-Me!?" Dib was stunned. Surprisingly, he never thought about that option before... "...flying a... a s-spaceship? A real spaceship!?..."

Well, he always found Zim's own little 'voot cruiser' really cool. Not that he did admit that in the past. There was Tak's ship... but all he did was messing around with the mechanic and computer stuff, which led to the 'downloading your own personality into an alien spacecraft'- accident. And Dib was afraid he actually broke more than he repaired on the ship, since how should he know how to handle such technology in the first place? Anyhow, now... now he got the chance to pilot a ship on his own! With Zim as the teacher!

Dib beamed at thinking about that scenario and all the possibilities...

"R-Really? Zim, that would be... awesome!"

The boy yelled with glee, ignoring Zim's probably more teasing, revenging intention than a actual educational one. He accidentally squeezed Zim quite powerful with a burst of excitement.

Much too soon however, worries overcame Dib. "B-But what if... we crash, because I can't control it. Since it's f-flying in the sky, not rolling on the ground like a bike. It can be dangerous. Or what if I accidentally hit the wrong button and we're gonna... explode or getting ejected or...o-or if I get seasick... well, not seasick, rather airsick a-and..."

At the sudden tight hug, Zim knew that the teasing side of his question had been lost somewhere. It was a slight disappointment, but the happy look on Dib's face made up for that.

That was short lived since soon that happy grin was replaced with a worried frown. At the end of every 'what if', Zim went to go speak, yet the stream of worries coming from the human's mouth seemed endless.

"Human." He said to try and get Dib's attention, didn't seem to work since the 'what if's carried on.

"Human!" He yelled, yet still, no effect.

Sighing, Zim checked towards the house, making sure no-one was there, before moving. Leaning down, he placed his lips on the other's own for a few second, before backing up. That seemed to do the trick.

Blushing slightly, Zim spoke. "Will you let me speak now? Look, you won't crash, lose control, hit anything, or get airsick. And it CERTAINLY won't explode. Remember when you flew Mercury? You didn't get airsick then did you? And if anything, a voot cruiser is safer than a bike. And I'll be there, so if you DO lose control and destroy my ship, I know who to blame." He assured, smirking slightly at the end.

His mind full of possible 'what if's, that short kiss immediately destroyed all worries and before Dib was able to kiss back, he already heard Zim speak. Stunned and blushing.

Well, the Irken obviously found the best way to shut him up. Heh, he should babble more often like this...

Zim's assurances made sure that no worries would return.

"... W-Well, I have to say that Mercury was mostly steered by the Autopilot," he meekly admitted. "Right. If YOU are by my side, nothing dangerous could happen. Ya' know, I was always impressed by your little... umm... 'voot cruiser'-thingy. It's rather small, as much I can say from when I was in it. When we worked together to foil Tak's evil snack-plan. S-So I would love to have a closer look at your ship... t-thank you for this offer! Y-You really must trust me... And you won't regret it."

With that, Dib happily kissed Zim back, since he didn't get the chance the moment before.

The returned kiss was only too welcome for Zim, since he had worried that his method of silencing Dib was slightly weird. But if the other didn't mind it, then all was fine. It lasted a few moments before they both parted.

Zim rested his head back down on the other's chest. He was thinking about what the other had just said. About how he must trust Dib to allow him to pilot the ship. He hadn't realized before, but he must trust the other quite a lot. Especially since he'd allowed him in his base, been without his disguise and now letting him near his precious ship.

"I trusted you the moment I let you in my base really..." Zim mumbled, blush increasing at admitting that. "But crash my ship, and you're dead, understand?" He said, smirking slightly. Of course he didn't mean it, but still, he didn't want his voot cruiser smashed for no good reason.

As always, Dib enjoyed every second of feeling Zim's lips on his own, so when Zim mumbled, the boy was still a bit dizzy. "A-And that means so much to me, Z-Zim," he replied, touched by the words. Of course he knew Zim trusted him, but hearing this few words coming from Zim's mouth, along with the cute blush, warmed his heart.

"Normally... I would have planted spy cameras all over the base, but now... n-now I got you around all the time. So there's no need for spying anymore..." He said more jokingly and leaned forward, until their foreheads touched. He liked being too damn close to Zim's face, while still being able to speak. So he whispered: "All to myself... my spaceship flying, green, amazing, blushing Zim."

Dib's last few words caused a smile to appear on Zim's face. The moment between the two of them was perfect. Just two friends, together, outside, during Summer. Even to Zim it sounded nice. And he usually hated Summer. But not anymore. Summer, the time he became friends with a human. His old enemy. Heh, sounded unbelievable. Yet true. If someone was to tell him, 3 weeks ago, that he was going to become friends with Dib.

Well, he'd probably try to kill them. But if they HAD, they would be right... Weird how things turn out. Yet this time it was a good turn of events.

"Let's just see if you can become the 'spaceship flying' Dib-human then?" Zim said, chuckling slightly at the thought of it. He could just imagine Dib at the controls of the voot cruiser, with a panicked face, as it zoomed through the sky. Heh, but knowing Dib, he'd get the hang of the controls.

After some 'staring', Dib was finally able to break away and mumbled. "We'll see for how long it flies, until I crash it into something..." Dib mumbled back, obviously joking and hoping that was 'hint' enough, for Zim to be seen as a joke.

"Okay!" Very excited now, he just wanted to run to the base and into the voot. As soon as Zim was off of him, Dib grabbed the nearest hand of Zim and began to sprint down the street, an Irken in tow.

'Another running session,' Zim thought, rolling his eyes as they both ran down Dib's street and round the corner. Street after street they passed, until they quickly reached the base once again. By this time they were both out of breath.

"Less running next time..." Zim managed between pants. Opening the door, they made their way through the main level, over to the elevator.

Using his free hand, he reached up and took off his wig and contacts, and threw them on the couch. They weren't needed, since the good thing about the voot cruiser is, you can see out, but they can't see in. Anyway, no-one would probably even notice the ship; being too engrossed in their day-to-day lives.

Once in the elevator, Zim pressed a button which sent it up. It didn't take long since it was only one level above. The usual 'ping' noise could be heard, before the doors opened to reveal the voot cruiser, sitting there, just waiting to be piloted.

"And there it is," Zim said, stating the obvious really.

Dib excitedly followed behind the Irken, already flying the voot-thingy in his mind. And when the elevator stopped and revealed the ship in all its silent glory, Dib's eyes widened in awe. Before he only saw it from quite a distance or for just a glimpse... or broken. Anyhow, how he saw it there, neatly nestled on a pod under the roof; illuminated by the sinking sun. That reminded him, it was already late in the afternoon.

"Yay!"

He ran to the ship and instantly inspected it from all sides by crouching down, jumping, roaming his hands over the cockpit's hemisphere and even trying to climb on top of it. But it was too... 'slick' and round shaped. So all he did was falling on his back with an 'oof'.

Dib sat up again in front on the ship , rested his head on one hand and stared at it, smiling. After some dreamy moments, he was suddenly aware of Zim's presence. Heh, he totally forgot him. Now blushing from his previous behaviour, he turned back to Zim.

"Umm... it's so cool, Zim! Being able to see it so close, to feel the ships surface and stuff... and all with your permission. T-That's exciting. And I...I could fly this thing!?..."

Glancing back at the ship he added: "Heh... cool."

Almost as soon as the doors had opened, Dib literally sprinted out the elevator; leaving an amused Zim standing, watching the other's inspection of his ship. He had to hold his breath to stop a laugh from becoming present at how curious Dib seemed to be. Well, who could blame him? It was probably the first time he'd seen it up close. Well, at least the human wasn't as nervous as Zim was with the bike. If anything, Dib was excited about the fact he was going to pilot it.

But as soon as he saw the other's failed attempt at climbing on the ship, he couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. Instantly he put his hand to his mouth to try and silence himself, but it didn't work much. After a few moments, Zim managed to go back to silent laughter, and made his way over to Dib.

On the way, he discreetly checked for any damage caused by the human's inspection. Well, he was still very proud of his voot cruiser, so wanted no unneeded marks or scratches.

"Of course you're going to fly it, or we wouldn't be here right now." He simply stated, before walking to the side of the cockpit and giving it a slight knock, causing it to open.

"Are you going to sit there, or are you getting in?" Zim asked, pointing to the seat inside.

"Okay, okay!" The boy hastily agreed and climbed up. Stooping on the edge, Dib turned to Zim, pouting a bit.

"...I'm not that funny. I just got a closer look ya' know... And stop that grin!" He added, but grinning too, since he was about to fly an alien spacecraft!

With that, he jumped onto the apparently pilot seat, since it was the only one inside the ship. There he sat, getting a little bit unsure, now that he was really sitting there. Looking around, the boy saw just now how... small the interior was. It looked bigger from the outside. But he wasn't complaining, since it was Zim he had to share the small space.

And when the Irken climbed in and stood beside him, Dib's heart beat really fast. Zim's closeness and the imminent task as the reason. The boy gulped and gripped the side of the chair.

"N-Now, sitting here and... seeing all these controls. To be honest, I-I'm getting just slightly nervous." Trying to cover that up with a forced laugh didn't help. Oh boy...

Zim had never noticed the small amount of space either. Well, it didn't matter in the past, since the only other person he had to share the space with usually, was GIR. And he was only a small robot, so didn't take up too much room... Oh well, it was needed if Dib wanted to learn how to pilot the ship.

About to give the first instruction, Zim had to stop at hearing the other's words and nervous laugh. Well, at least he wasn't the only one nervous about another species' vehicle.

"It's not that difficult really. And half the controls you don't need all the time. You'll be fine Dib-friend," he assured; finding it kind of funny how it sounded similar to Dib's reassuring words from earlier.

"When you're ready, press this button to start the engine." Pointing to a button in the middle of the left control panel.

"W-Well, if you say so..." So without more words his shaking hand reached forward and pressed said button. He expected a rather loud sound like from a huge car engine. But all he heard was... a barely audible buzzing and a slight vibration. So, instead of panicking further, Dib tried to stay calm and relax, but staying attentive.

"Done..." Dib was scared if he made a wrong movement, the ship would crash into something or explode... despite Zim's reassuring words. So he sat rigid in the pilots chair and looked nervously up to Zim.

At seeing the nervous look on Dib's face, Zim just smiled reassuringly at him before speaking.

"Well done, okay, now press this one to open the roof. You can't fly this thing inside you know," he said, trying to lighten the mood for the human, whilst pointing to a flashing pink button, underneath the previously pressed one. "Once you've done that, take hold of the control stick, and pull SLOWLY down. That'll cause the ship to rise."

It was a rather weird feeling being the passenger, rather than the pilot. Yet, fun being the teacher this time too. But Dib seemed to not be enjoying it...

"Human, it's not going to explode. Relax; it's safe. A lot more so than your stupid bike, that's for sure."

Trying to relax, just as he was told, Dib took a deep breath and pressed the pink button. The sunlight poured friendly onto the ship and Dib was surprised that he wasn't getting blinded. Would be stupid for a pilot.

He took one quick glance at Zim's smiling face, smiled back and carefully pushed the controller, tightly gripped with his non-shaking hands, and instantly the ship rose. Slowly and bolt-upright. They passed the edge of the open roof and were suddenly outside. Dib stopped his pushing and held the controller in the current position. Due to the cockpit's hemisphere dome, he was able to look down and to all sides.

It was really an nice panorama. Especially since Dib never used a plane or got higher than the 10 meter-tower at the Skool's swimming lessons. But despite his vertigo, he felt safe inside this alien thing, with his alien friend by his side. In fact, Dib somewhat enjoyed the slightly giddy feeling he got at looking around, watching cars go by and very few people on the streets...

"Hey, Zim...look around. Isn't it cool? Seeing all that stuff... from above?" He beamed, totally forgetting how normal it was for Zim to use the ship, so he surely saw way more interesting things then his neighbourhood from 30 meter up in the air. But for Dib... it was a new experience.

He had been expecting that question from Dib, so Zim's smile only increased. He'd seen the view a thousand times by now, but obviously the human hadn't. Shrugging, he made a dismissive noise before leaning back against the wall, watching Dib as he looked around the street. This was one of the reasons he actually didn't mind letting the other in his ship, since Dib always seemed so amazed at the simple things.

Like this.

Just being above everyone and watching everyone go about their lives. The first time Zim had been in a ship, he had acted much like the human was doing right now. Just staring at everything and everyone.

"You get used to it after awhile..." He mumbled, leaning forward and pressing the same button which then closed the roof.

"Once you're done with the view, push the control stick forward so it goes away from you. That'll make it go forward. But slowly. Remember, you're the only one sitting down." Zim instructed, joking slightly at the end.

The professional sound of Zim was also a new thing for the human boy. He really sounded like a teacher. And he didn't need to turn around to see Zim's grin, since he knew how funny it was for the Irken. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" He said, and slowly pushed the controller forward.

Still, Dib wasn't prepared for the instant movement of the ship, so he let out a sudden yelp and gripped the controls, causing the ship to stop as sudden as it started.

"Whoa... t-there's very much power in this small thing," Dib commented nervously, meaning the ship. Turning back, he saw that Zim got a hold on the control panels too. "Sorry... now I'm more careful." Concentrating on his hands, Dib took the controller again and this time made a very light movement forward. As a result, the ship smoothly and slowly floated ahead.

"Who wouldn't? One second you look like your going to have a nervous break down, and then the next, your hypnotized by a view. Then the cycle begins again." Zim explained, smiling smugly. He had been correct about his guess. No-one had seen a really quite obvious spaceship right above them... Humans really were stupid sometimes. They probably wouldn't even notice if an asteroid struck right in front of them...

Noticing the slight movement of the ship, Zim looked down at Dib, but as soon as he did, the human yelped and stopped the ship. This caused the Irken to stumble slightly.

He really needed to install a second seat in this thing...

"Dib-human... You need to relax. If you're going to get jumpy just from moving slightly, how are you expecting to-" He cut himself off at noticing that they were in fact moving again, this time smoothly and with no sudden stops. "Heh... Not bad... See? It's pretty simple really, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you need a lot of instinctive feelings for that stick!" Dib answered, while staring ahead. His eyes moved to the sides every so often. Well, they weren't really high, so he got the sudden urge to rise the ship into the clouds, so Dib could see more of the city beneath him. Not losing his carefulness, he pushed the control stick-thingy SLOWLY down by making a combined motion of down and forward. This caused the ship to make a neat curve up while still flying forward. He saw his house, getting smaller and smaller.

"Whooo!" He squealed. It wasn't that fast, but still... Dib was a child at heart. And what little boy didn't dream of flying such a thing? Well, Dib apparently did. "Yay, this is fun, Zim! Look at me, I'm flying your ship!" The boy happily yelled and increased the pressure, causing the ship to burst through a low-flying cloud.

At the sudden change in Dib's attitude, Zim couldn't help but laugh slightly. It was nice to see the other so happy and seeming almost proud of himself.

"Indeed you are, human. And rather well for a beginner." He admitted, changing from laughing, to a grin. To Zim, the ability and chances to fly the ship weren't as exciting or fun as they used to be when he first learnt how to, back when training on Irk. But, seeing Dib like this, having so much fun, kind of brought back the wonder to it.

"Now, if you haven't guessed already, moving the control stick to the left or right changes the direction. It's almost instant, so just be warned," he explained, not wanting Dib to have another panic moment like when first moving the ship forward.

"You can do that once you've finished with your cloud-killing."

"Well, they are in my way, so it's the clouds fault for being shot, hehehe... not mine!"

Higher and higher it got. The clouds got bigger and more fluffy. So, one time it lasted two or three seconds to pass a cloud, before the ship rushed out of it at the other end. Zim barely mentioned the 'flying-sidewards' thingy and Dib did that.

Left, right, rise and fall.

He curiously tried out all different kind of movements the ship was able to do. And the Irken was right: Dib didn't get sick, quite the opposite.

"This is fun. Look, Zim!"

Suddenly, the ship made a rough backflip, so Dib almost flew out of the seat, but luckily he got a strong grip on the stick. But the flip only caused more unintended moves.

"Damn! I-I can't control it anymore. The ship's gone crazy...Zim, do something!" Dib yelled panicked. He saw the city above, then beneath him; same with the clouds. The ship wildly rotated around, so it was hard to to say what as here and what there... Ugh.

Zim was actually quite amazed at how quickly Dib had been able to pick up the controls. Well, he was pretty smart... for a human at least. For a while, the ship was behaving more like a roller coaster than it usually did. But it didn't matter so much, since Dib seemed to be having fun with it. After a few more clouds met their doomed fate, he heard the other's statement. Previously he had just been watching what the human was doing, but now he changed his gaze out of the window.

They were heading up...

Zim's eyes widened as he realized what the other was about to do.

"Human, you're forgetting you're the only one sitting dow-" He started, but got interrupted as he got sent flying backwards into the wall he was leaning on, then into the roof and then back down to the original place he had been standing.

Zim groaned and went to stand back up, but the flips and turns didn't stop there.

At hearing the other's panicked voice, it was obvious what was happening. After a few more bumps with the roof, he finally landed on something soft. Well, someone.

The Irken wrapped an arm around the human's torso, to keep himself in place, and grabbed the control stick with the other. First thing he did was send the ship upwards. If there was one thing they did NOT want, was to crash on the ground.

Once he was sure that they were safe from crashing -at least-, he turned the stick left then right a few times, to at least slow down the speed of the turns. Last, he pressed multiple buttons to activate the stabilization sequence.

Finally the ship came to a stop and was calm once again.

"Thank Irk..." Zim groaned, and let his head fall back on Dib's chest. He was too relieved to move out of the other's lap at the moment...

With closed eyes, frozen, Dib endured all the movements and gripped the chair back, until... nothing moved anymore. The ship hovered on the spot. It was silent again, just the ships buzzing was noticeable.

Only now he realized the added weight on his body. Quickly, he opened his eyes and saw... Zim, sitting on his lap and with is head on Dib's chest! Right, Zim unjumbled the situation.

Soon, Dib relaxed and slumped back in the chair. Everything was fine now, so the boy draped his arms around his ship-flying-teacher Zim and rested his head on the other's green one.

"Sooo... how was I?" He tried to ask innocently, but came out more nervous.

"You were doing great, until you began to show off... For a beginner, you're pretty good," he concluded. Looking out the window, the ship was now extremely high in the air, above all the clouds. So, the late afternoon sun could be seen more clearly.

"And you know when I said 'no more backflips'? ...I meant it!" Zim whined, leaning back even more against the other. His head was still spinning slightly, yet it was fading quite quickly.

Looking down at Zim's legs on him, Dib mumbled. "Y-Yeah... You mentioned something in that direction." Dib replied. "Sorry, I guess it got the better of me. It was just too much fun. No more backflips, promised...-"

Randomly, Dib really looked up and was amazed of the view; way more than before, seeing the city. Now they were so high, the clouds formed a fluffy white blanket beneath them. And above everything throned the sun. Dib was even able to look at it without being blinded, thanks to the cockpits-dome material. It worked like huge sunglasses. Just one word for that view... beautiful!

"Wow..." The boy whispered, very amazed and subconsciously hugged Zim tighter.

"T-That's awesome, Zim. Look! As far as you can see... only clouds!" In fact, there were just a handful of very big of them, but from the ship's view it looked like a whole sea of them, just white...

"It's...it's hard to believe. I'm s-sitting here, in your spaceship and I'm watching... well, this!" Dib carefully took Zim's hands in his own and placed them on the Irken's stomach, rubbing them gently.

"...T-Thank you, Zim. I never got the chance to see... something l-like this. It's nice... e-especially with you here, sitting on me..." He began humming a slow melody and watched the sun, like it was shining just for him and his Irken.

Feeling the tightened hug, and hearing Dib's words, Zim looked up also. This time, not only concentrating on the sun, but also looking to the side to see the clouds the other had mentioned. Sure enough, there they were. This time, they weren't below the clouds, but above them. Sure he'd been this high up before, and even more so, but this time was different. Just the two of them, enjoying the view. The sun caused the clouds to have a slight orangy-pinky colour to them. Heh, now they really DID look like cotton candy.

"You're welcome. And those backflips were worth it to see this..." Zim mumbled, not wanting to talk much, just focusing on the warm feeling which he got, not only from the sun, but from being so close to Dib. Sighing, he let his head rest back on the other's chest and a content smile made its way on the Irken's face.

"You know... Maybe Earth isn't much a bad place to get b-banished on after all..." He admitted, whilst listening to Dib's hummed tune. The moment probably couldn't get any better...

They both sat there for over a hour, silently enjoying the sea of clouds and watching the sinking sun, which embedded the whole sky into an intense colour-mix of orange and pink, until it looked like the clouds themselves were glowing like thousand fluffy suns. Dib stopped his humming a while ago, so the only thing was the barely audible buzzing of the ships engine and, at least for Dib, his own rushing heartbeat, which echoed in his ears. However, he kept rubbing Zim's hands and sometimes breathed unintentionally against an antenna, causing it to twitch ever so slightly.

In all honesty... Dib never felt so relaxed and pleased before. Without any kisses or make-outs with Zim. Of course he wouldn't mind it in the slightest, but... the unique, beautiful view and his Irken sitting in his lap... that was all he really needed in this moment. After some more while, Dib only shuffled a bit in the chair to get more comfortable and tightened his loosened hug around Zim, before letting out a content sigh.

It all felt so nice and... perfect! His eyes fell half-lidded, but stayed open, since Dib didn't want to miss one glimpse of that panorama-view of that regular natural wonder. Yeah, he would call it so.

It seemed like they had both been sitting there for forever and a day, but that was fine with Zim. He wouldn't change one thing about the moment. To be honest, he wouldn't mind just staying here for days on end... Well, if the view stayed the same that was. Yet, it seemed like the sun didn't want to stay around long, since, ever so slowly, it was setting.

Heh, he wondered what this moment would have been like if it was with GIR instead of the human... He probably wouldn't shut up, messing around with the control panels and even causing them to crash. Zim shuddered slightly at that horrible thought.

No, he was just glad that robot was far away from them at that moment. And that he was with his friend... The Irken's smile never left his face once; if anything it only grew. A few times he shut his eyes for a minute or so, just to focus of the rare sensation that he was feeling. No worries at all, just calm and happy... Perfect.

Soon, another noise joined the low sound of the engine, which was a quiet purr. This time, Zim didn't mind in the slightest... He was actually kind of getting used to it. He was just so... happy! The view, and being with Dib. Yeah, perfect.

When the additional sounds became present, Dib was slightly confused at first, since it was almost totally silent by now. But that only lasted for a second or so, before he realized what it was. He couldn't help but let out a rather quiet squeal. He shuffled Zim a bit higher, so the boy could rest his head on the Irken's shoulder and nuzzle his green cheek affectionately.

"...Heh, sounds like Zim is pleased..." He mumbled happily. It felt odd to speak after so long time without any word from either of them. After another squeal and pressing Zim possessively against himself, Dib added: "Look, the dusk is already here... I can't believe this day is almost over. They're seeming way too short, when I'm with you, Zim... Still, I'm kinda looking forward to sleep on you or beside you or... doesn't matter as long as it's near you."

And with that said, Dib kissed the Irken's cheek, since he couldn't reach the other's mouth, but didn't want to change the position too much.

Even though Dib's squeal was rather silent, the silence which had been present the whole time instantly broke, and caused Zim to jump slightly. Though he quickly relaxed at feeling the other's cheek on his own. He nodded in reply to the statement, whilst making an agreeing noise at the back on his throat.

Even a mumble was rather loud, since you get used to the quiet after an hour or so of silence. The last sentence which left the other's mouth, as well as the kiss to the cheek, caused Zim to blush slightly.

"W-Well your Earth rotations are fast anyway..." He said, nuzzling the human's cheek back. Well, compared to some planets at least. And to other's they were mega slow. Heh, oh well. Planets' differences were what made them interesting.

The sky was becoming darker by the moment, and the clouds were fading back to white, to a slight dark-ish-bluey colour.

"Indeed... But hey, there's always a tomorrow. But now... umm... someone needs to fly us back h-home. Heh, I would like to see you piloting! Also, I wanna stay like this, since it's way too comfortable. Sooo... Pilot, get us back to the base." He announced, raising his voice a bit.

Giggling, he squeezed Zim to get his point across and already watched the control panel, ready to see all little movements and details of Zim's piloting methods.

"Surely I can learn more, so I won't make backflips... the next time."

Again, there it was, Dib calling the base 'home'. For some strange reason, it made Zim kind of happy for know that the other was that comfortable to be in the base. Smile increasing from that, and the tightened hug, Zim gave the view they had both been staring at for the past hour a last glance, before taking hold of the controls.

"Watch and learn, human," he teased, before pushing the control stick forward with some force, which caused the ship to speed forward quite quickly, whilst pulling it up slightly, to lower the ship below the clouds.

Once the city was back in view, he slowed down to try and figure out where they were. Well, who could see where they were going when making flips? After a minute or so of searching, Zim spotted the familiar green building, which was the base, and sped towards it, whilst pressing the same pink button to open the roof.

Dib wasn't prepared for such a quick change of speed. And what speed! Being pressed into the chair, the only safe thing in reach was Zim, so the boy clung onto him to keep them from falling. Of course that didn't happen, since Zim was the pilot this time. Strange, because from all that Dib saw of the other's controlling, it didn't look sooo different from his own piloting. But no backflips or unexpected movements, despite the great speed.

'Maybe, the speed is stabilizing the ship somehow', Dib thought as Zim raced through the clouds down. It sounded absurd, but that thing was an Irken spaceship after all... with Zim in it! So nothing seemed too strange, compared to the situation he was in.

Also, Dib was amazed how quick Zim found the base's overground green house, since after they left the layers of clouds, he saw a part of the city, which was unknown for him. Were Zim's eyes really THAT good? Hmmpf, maybe the ship got just the right coordinates programmed. Anyhow... still rather fast, they were eaten by the base's jaws, which was the roof. It closed again and the voot's hatch opened, so they both climbed out. Zim first.

As soon as Dib's feet touched the ground, he glomped Zim and gave him a feisty kiss on the lips. Their tongues battled for some moments and Dib made his nice lip-licking to Zim's ones. After this, the boy leaned back, grinning from ear to ear.

"Heh, sorry... I should have warned you," he commented at seeing Zim's still surprised expression. "But seriously..." he began and squeezed his Irken again. "T-Thanks for that trip, Zim. For me... it was an unique adventure. It's like I never saw the sky or flight b-before. How can I return that favour? I-I wanna... make you feel like I am feeling now!" Dib already noticed that he tended to pour out his heart around Zim, which sometimes resulted in extended little speeches. But since Zim didn't mind that fact at all, Dib got no intention to change that habit. In fact, he was happy and somehow surprised that he even got the ability to being so close to someone. Emotional and physical. It was still such a refreshing experience.

As the roof shut, Zim couldn't help but let out a slight sigh. Getting out of the base sometimes was fine, but there was nothing like being back... And as stupid as humans may be, there was always the possibility one may look up and see the ship. So, being back with no incidents was a relief. But it was also a slight disappointment. Since the wondrous view they had was long gone and wouldn't be back until tomorrow... That is if they did go back to look at it again.

It was only then that he realized that he was still sitting on Dib, so he quickly got out of the ship.

Watching the other getting out, he spoke. "And that's how you fly the voot cruiser properly. I hope you learnt somet-" He began, but got interrupted as their lips soon met in another kiss. Zim's eyes widened and his blush returned. If one thing was for sure, he hadn't expected that, especially as they had just left the ship. He wasn't going to complain though, no way.

They both parted after a few moments and he listened to Dib's words. Once the human had finished, Zim's shocked expression soon turned into a confused one. "There's no need for you to do that, Dib-human. If you're happy, Zim's happy," he explained, smiling slightly to prove it.

He really didn't feel the need for the other to 'return the favour', since he was happy enough as he was. Since he too had enjoyed the flight. Even the backflips were bearable, since they got to watch the sun disappear.

'If you're happy, Zim's happy...' Those few words floated around in Dib's head.

A simple fact for Zim, but so much more for the human boy. He didn't think the Irken was so... well, selfless. Apparently Zim just wanted to make him happy. Nothing more. Just that. 'Zim cares so much! He's... amazing.' Well, actions speak louder than words and Zim wasn't an exception.

"W-Well, same for me. Seems like all we're doing is making each other happy, even if I got m-my 'issues' sometimes... And for me, that's what represents real friends." Dib loosened his hug and mumbled. "B-But maybe..." He thoughtfully looked down. "... maybe we're..."

Remembering the last 'moment' on the couch, the topic they talked about... he quickly shook his head, before those pictures and emotions they bring, got the better of him. Still, he was scared to suppress them totally.

"N-nevermind. Let's get comfortable somewhere." Looking at the elevator-door, the boy avoided Zim's gaze and wanted to look casual. Well, Dib's face was mostly a screen of his emotional condition.

"Okay," was Zim's simple reply, as he took hold of Dib's hand and they both made their way over to the elevator. But this time, instead of pressing a button immediately, he took a moment or so to decide which would be better.

The couch on the main level was comfortable, yes. But there was a chance that GIR may have returned and could be lurking around... And his room was comfortable also, but dark and slightly colder than the main level was. Since, no windows meant no sun... But then again, the sun had nearly completely set anyway. Ugh...

He'd been standing there with his finger raised for around a minute now. Finally he decided. He'd much rather keep clear of GIR, so chose his room.

Pressing the button, the elevator made its way downwards. It didn't take long for it to reach their destination. 'Maybe it's getting used to going between these levels', Zim thought, since it was mainly this floor and the main level which they visited. The doors opened, and they made the short walk to 'their' room. Instantly, the first thing which met the Irken's gaze was Dib's bag, sitting their neatly next to the bed. He remembered that, that was what the 'Gamecube' came from. Now he was curious what else the other may have brought.

So, letting go of Dib's hand, he literally ran over to the bag, and began to look inside, forgetting to have any respect for the other's privacy to what may be in it.

Relieved that he didn't have to explain his worries to Zim... for now. So he kept silent while the Irken chose their destination. Somehow it was funny how long he took until he finally pressed the button. For Dib, only the bedroom came into question, since it was the most comfy place he knew, not only in the base... And his belongings were there too, so surely they would find something to entertain themselves before... well, before going to sleep.

But as soon as the doors whooshed open, Zim practically lunged forward to grab the bag, before Dib was able to. The boy could only laugh at that. Stepping out of the elevator, he sat on the bed and watched amused, how Zim dug around in the backpack. Beside the movies and Gamecube, there was his laptop and a wooden chess too. The rest was mostly stuff he grabbed from a childhood-carton inside his cupboard. It was a long while since he last used that stuff, so even he didn't know what was in that bag... Probably toys and stuff.

"Looks like someone's curious what stuff the Dib brought here..." He quipped. It was so funny to watch, since now Zim's head almost disappeared inside the the bag.

"Sooo... found something?"

One thing was for sure, there was quite a lot in the bag... Zim had only been expecting one or two things to be there. But no, there was all sorts of things... He had somehow expected Dib to bring his laptop, and sure enough, he had. He rolled his eyes slightly, before continuing his search. There was a wooden board...thingy, with different coloured squares on it...

Weird. Zim just decided to ignore that one.

At the bottom of the bag was several figurines... Reaching down, he picked one up to look at it... It was one of those creatures which was on Earth millions of human years ago... 'Dinosaurs' weren't they? Probably... he couldn't remember. They'd learnt about them in class once. He didn't pay that much attention. Why learn about something that's been dead all this time? Oh well. Putting the mini model back in the bag, something else caught his eye.

It looked familiar...

Zim's eyes widened once he'd pulled it out...

It was a camera.

"D-Dib-human... W-Why did you bring a... camera...?" He asked, subconsciously backing away slightly, whilst holding the device tightly in both hands. All the while, he was staring at it with mistrust... Why did Dib need to bring such a device? Unless... Had he brought it here to... take pictures? Of him? Of his base? But if so, then that would mean... he was still trying... to...

...Zim brought his gaze up to Dib, a mixture of confusion and disbelief written in his eyes. "Dib-human?" He repeated, demanding an answer.


	39. Chapter 39

Watching the Irken as he rummaged around in the bag and inspected its content, Dib was happy how curious Zim was about the simple stuff he brought here. Surely he would have to explain a lot of things and...

What was Zim holding in his hands?

A camera!?

How...?

After Zim's words, whose tone was making Dib making feel so... guilty. And suddenly he remembered. As he was packing his belongings, he just grabbed his backpack from the bed without a further look. But at the bottom of that backpack was still a camera. Yeah, he originally wanted to use it the same day, first day of a new grade... Making one of his usual 'spy-trips' to Zim's base. And he was carrying around at least one spy-device.

A camera. This camera...

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Why didn't he checked his damn backpack before? Because he was in such a haste, wanting to get back to the base as soon as possible. But he got an whole hour time...!

Opening his eyes, which he closed during all this struggled thinking, he saw that look on Zim's face. A total new one. So full of... suspicion. It was different like in the past. Not the usual hostile glare, more a hurt look. Disappointed. Still, the Irken patiently waited for an answer. So, taking a deep breath, Dib tried to explain. His voice shook as he avoided the other's gaze.

"...Z-Zim, it's not w-what it looks like... honestly. That thing... that stupid c-camera was already in the this backpack... b-before we even became friends and... a-and I forgot to take it out w-when I put that stuff in it, two days ago. I-I just packed it and literally... ran to the base. Now I see how t-thoughtless it was not t-to check the bag before..." Bowing his head in shame, Dib was ready to take Zim's answer without complaints, already thinking about how he could empathize his words.

That he wasn't lying.

The long pause which followed the answer made it even more difficult for Zim to believe what the other had to say...

Looking back down at the camera in his hands, he flipped it over so the closed lens was in his view... Thinking about it, there was many times that this thing could have taken pictures of him, GIR or the base... Many times when he'd let his guard down... Just now, in the voot cruiser for example. But of course, if the camera was in the bag, then Dib wouldn't have had a chance then... But... There were other times.

"I...I-I don't believe you..." He mumbled, gently digging his claws into the edges in growing anger.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" He repeated, literally screaming in frustration, as he threw the stupid device as hard as he could, aiming for Dib's head.

It missed.

But not by far. He wasn't sure if he was glad for that, or disappointed. His aim was off since his eyes were beginning to tear up...

The camera landed safely on the bed behind the human. Zim mentally cursed, and balled his hands into fists. He now had a mixture of feelings floating around in him. Anger, sadness, disappointment, but over all... betrayal.

"Y-You're..." He began, looking down at this boots. "You're just like them... just like... them..." He managed, before gritting his teeth to hold back his tears...

No way was he crying in front of the other again... To Zim, it almost felt like a repeat of the conversation with the Tallest, but this time finding out for himself... It was mainly the memory of that causing this. This anger...

Anger to replace weakness...

One good thing he'd learnt from the empire. He wanted to believe what the other had said, but another half didn't...

Looking back up, he gave the other an almost pleading look. He NEEDED to believe Dib somehow...

Like a statue, Dib just sat on the end of the bed, not able to move an inch. It hit him too hard what Zim was saying.

'I don't believe you...'

The words echoed in his head against his will. Well, he wasn't really surprised of the Irken's reaction. Still... it hurt so much. To hear such a thing from Zim, screamed at him. But mostly, Dib was mad at himself. This situation could have been easily prevented if he'd just emptied the bag before putting all the other stuff in it. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if he would believe his own excuse if he would be in Zim's stead...

Dib turned his head, looking at that accursed camera. It was literally a symbol of his past obsession for Zim. Spying. Taking 'proof' and such... Now it seemed so... so ridiculous to him! Like a stupid child's game! Without a word, he took the device, removing the lens cap and turned it on. Pictures plopped up on the small screen. Showing Zim mostly. Disguised. Undisguised. At Skool. In the living-room. Walking GIR...

By now, he tried to ignore Zim, but when he looked at all the pictures, he couldn't help but finally looked at the Irken.

His Irken.

But, maybe not anymore...

That pleading look on Zim's face! Dib couldn't take it. The formerly intriguing, red orbs were slowly filling with tears. 'Don't cry, Zim. Stop it!' Dib yelled in his head, but those words didn't leave his mouth. He was the reason for it... stupid Dib! Idiot!

Avoiding Zim's gaze, Dib let the camera fall to the ground and slid off the bed beside it... In a sudden explosion of anger, Dib grabbed the chessboard and smashed the camera with the wooden square. Over and over again. After ten times or so, the former camera was reduced to a small mess of plastic pieces and a broken lens. He didn't know if he did it to 'symbolically destroy his past' or just to let out his frustration. Probably both, but it was just the camera's fault. Curse this thing! Dib took some much needed deep breaths and finally managed to look up at the Irken beside him.

The boy wasn't aware of the small tears, which made their way down his cheeks. This time without sobbing or crying. Just silent weeping. "...Z-...Z-Zim?..." Was all he was able to say. Slowly, Dib stood up and throdded to the door. In the frame, he wanted to turn around one last time... but couldn't. "No!" And with that, he ran to the elevator, up to the living room and out of the base. Out of home, to the 'Membrane Street'.

Watching the other leave, Zim took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself down... It didn't work. The tears just kept on flowing. Using the wall behind him, he let himself fall onto the ground, still staring at the door. His friend... Only ever friend. Gone. No longer was he angry, just sadness was left now.

"S-Stupid... human," he mumbled to himself, whilst bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. The memories of all the previous day flashed into Zim's mind, but he quickly shook his head to remove them...

First the empire, now Dib...

Letting his head fall, he placed his forehead on his knees and curled up into a ball. The Tallest's words replayed themselves. 'You've ruined it'... No moment had that statement been more true than now. He'd ruined it again... Not a mission... a friendship...

Looking up, he saw the mess of plastic which had been the camera... Using his limited strength, he crawled over to the pile of broken camera, and picked up one of the pieces. Zim's mouth opened slightly in realization...

If the camera had been destroyed... then so had any pictures... Or if there was any pictures to begin with in the first place.

That horrible dropping sensation happened again in the Irken's chest as he dropped the piece and almost fell backwards, but caught himself. "D-Dib...-friend..." He mumbled, biting his bottom lip as he realized that, it was in fact, his fault again... "WHY DIDN'T I JUST BELIEVE THE MISERABLE CREATURE!?" He yelled to himself, hitting the floor with his fist. It was only when his fist hit inches away from Dib's bag which he realized that he'd forgotten it...

Suddenly, Zim had an idea on how to sort out this mess. But he needed one thing... Reaching out a hand, it hovered over the human's bag for a few moments, debating whether or not this was a good idea. Taking one last deep breath in, he reached in and took out the laptop which lay inside.

Gently, he set it on the bed, whilst kneeling on the ground so the bed acted like a desk or table. He had no idea how to work these machines, but it was worth a shot. Opening the lid, there was an extremely simple keyboard, with a screen and, in the middle, a power button... Almost instantly after pressing the button, the screen lit up.

Zim waited patiently for it to load up completely, whilst wiping away the last remaining tears. Once a screen appeared, with a desktop image saying: 'They are among us', Zim couldn't help but roll his eyes, and pressed on many icons until a search bar appeared. "Right..." Using the keyboard, he slowly typed in 'Camera repair guide', and pressed 'search'... There were some things you needed to search on a Earth computer for it to work...

Zim just hoped this would work.

As soon as Dib opened the house's door, his sister's voice greeted him, annoyed as always. "Look who came home after 3 days," Gaz mocked without even looking up, sitting on the sofa and playing her video games. "That's weird, even for you. What did you do at Zim's base, Dib? I bet he caught you, but was too stupid to keep you, so you escaped... And now you're here again, ugh." Dib listened and answered.

"Don't worry, Gaz. I won't get over there ever again!" He yelled and quickly climbed the stairs...

When Gaz heard the door to Dib's room slammed shut, he couldn't help but feeling relieved that Dib returned home after such a long while. Maybe, just maybe... she missed her older brother. But only a small bit! It was so quiet in this house without Dib's obnoxious presence and babblings about Zim's evil plans and such... Of course she would never admit it out loud. So, with a tiny smile on her face, Gaz continued to slaughter vampire piggies on her GS-3.

Meanwhile, Dib sat on the edge of his bed, resting his head on his hands and making a mess of his hair, still silently weeping. He mused about... well, everything about the past 3 days. About Zim. But all these thoughts were overshadowed by scare. Dib was scared that his friendship with Zim was over and done. That they were going straight back to being enemies. That he would hate Zim again... Hate his Irken. His Zim. His special friend.

"...N-No...I don't want that...I-I can't do that..." He whimpered with a stifled voice and tightly shut his eyes, trying to block out the now strong flow of tears. "I can't hate him again... n-not even dislike." Dib whispered... "I CAN'T!" With a sudden burst of frustration, like minutes ago with the camera, he stood up, stormed to his cupboard and tore open the doors... He was confronted with the past, with the old Dib. Printed out photos of Zim. Only Zim. Covering almost every inch on the cupboards interior. They weren't really different from the ones saved in the camera. Zim in various situations and poses. At Skool's Lunch. Skool's playground. Walking to Skool. Inside his base, and many more.

The old Dib would have been proud of this collection, but now, the present one was just disgusted. Now, Dib felt like a stalking pervert. A criminal. A freak.

"I HATE YOU!" Dib yelled and ripped all the posters down, crumbling them, before the angrily stomped on all the mess. Of course he meant his old self, who did all these damn pictures of Zim. The old, stalking Dib. After he cried out most of his frustration, Dib let himself fall onto the bed on his stomach. Snatching a nearby pillow, he dug his face into it. Now he was sobbing, even more than this noon, sitting on Zim and... Urgh, he could stop thinking about the Irken!

"Zim!..." He mumbled into the soft surface and wished so bad to have Zim beneath him, so could cry into the other's red shirt, the one he bought for his friend. Instead of lonely in a pillow. But everything inside him screamed it was all his fault. Trust was the most important thing in a friendship. And he broke it, just by having this damn, stupid camera in his bag! After some more minutes of anger and frustration, Dib was emotionally worn out and slowly drifted off into a light slumber, whispering words. "...I just want you back, Z-Zim... so bad..."

After a good hour or so, Zim held up what he had been working on. Using the human's laptop, and some tools he had got from his lab, the Irken had managed to -just about- fix the smashed camera... Just to test it was the last problem... He had, had the perfect picture to take for Dib ever since he got the idea to fix the other's device... He just hoped it would be enough. And that it actually worked again.

So, picking up Dib's bag in one hand, and still holding the still cracked, yet fixed, camera in the other; he made his way to the elevator. Pressing the main level, he rested the bag on the floor, balancing the camera on top of it. The usual 'ping' noise sounded, and Zim left the small space into the kitchen. This time, not even noticing the mess, walked right past the tipped fridge and over to the couch. GIR was back, and watching the TV. Knowing the robot would be too engrossed in the show which was currently playing, he walked right past him, picked up his disguise and put it on.

"GIR, I'm going out for a bit, guard the base." He commanded, voice cracking slightly. The robot didn't even look up from his trance. Typical... Walking back to the elevator, he pressed the 'roof level', whilst picking up the two pieces of cargo.

Again, 'ping'.

Walking out, he paused before the voot cruiser, remembering Dib's piloting lesson... How happy they'd both been... Shoving the camera inside the bag, Zim threw it next to the chair inside, and soon followed, placing both hands on the control stick. The usual take off procedure, and soon the ship was off. Not to Dib's house, but straight up, above the city.

Once he was high enough, Zim leaned forward to check the view. The city looked like a mini toy for children... Street lights glowed like mini fireflies... Hardly anyone was out, so this was perfect. Reaching out an arm, he plunged his hand into Dib's bag, and pulled out the camera. 'Please work...' The Irken mentally wished, whilst pressing a button to open the hatch. The cold wild instantly hit his face... Ugh, no sun means no warmth... He forgot.

Bringing the camera to his face, he looked through the view finder and focused the image... He had been planning to take a picture of the setting sun, like they both had watched together... But that meant another 24 hours to wait... And who knows what could have happened by then. So the city from above would have to do. Once the picture had been taken, the Irken closed the hatch and leaned back in his seat, staring at the display screen.

"Please work... Pleeease," he begged, waiting for the image to pop up...

Nothing...

Zim sighed, and dropped the camera back into the bag... "Well... at least he'll have his bag back..." He mumbled to himself, disappointed that his attempt had failed. Taking control of the ship again, he began a fast drive to Dib's house, wanting to get this over with. It only took a few minutes... Would have taken less if the darkness hadn't been in the way... Hiding everything.

Landing on the road, Zim looked up at the house, wondering whether this was a bad idea. Probably. But oh well. Exiting the voot, holding the bag, he made his way to the door, dragging his feet behind him... He really didn't know what was going to happen. Would he be forgiven? Or back to enemies? Lazily bringing up a hand, knocked on the door, hoping for some type of reply.

At hearing the knock, Gaz grumbled and reluctantly paused her current game.

"What jerk is knocking here at this time..." she mumbled to herself and opened the door, not really surprised at seeing Zim. "What do you want?" She snapped, not caring her brother's bag in the other's hand.

It only took a moment or so for the door to open, Zim instantly jumped slightly at seeing Dib's 'scary evil sister' opening the door. Gaz was the only human that he was cautious of... When she wanted to be, she could be close to a killer... Well, he doubted she'd ever killed someone, but there were some moments that he seriously questioned it.

Clearing his throat, Zim spoke, raising the bag so it was in obvious view of the other.

"Uhh... Is Dib-human here...? He... He forgot something, and I need to speak to him..." He mumbled, looking behind the girl to see if Dib was on the couch or anywhere in his view... No. He was rewarded with a sharp 'maybe', as she walked back to the couch. Zim let out a slight sigh of relief... Wait. He didn't know his way around this house!

"Um, where's his ro-" He didn't even need to finish, since Gaz pointed wordlessly at the stairs, eyes not leaving her game. So, walking up the stairs, Zim tried each door, hoping he'd find Dib's room sometime...

Bathroom, no.

Cupboard, no.

Dib's room, yes.

Opening the door a crack, he was greeted with a sleeping human... Looking around the room, it was kind of a mess... But he didn't come here to inspect the human's idea of 'decorating'. So, walking quietly into the room, Zim made his way over to the other, dragging the bag across the floor. He gave Dib a few shakes, trying to wake him up.

Only a light, dreamless slumber, after a few more shakes, Dib woke up and groaned into the pillow "Hmmm...?" Turning his head to the side, he lazily opened his eyes... and was rather shocked at the view. An all too familiar face looked down at him. With a sad expression written all over its features. Zim... After two or so seconds of staring at the Irken, Dib clumsily sat up in the bed and backed slightly away from the other. The boy already assumed the worst: The next day at Skool they would argue and insulting each other like this whole friendship never happened. So, seeing him in his room was... well, surprising.

"Z-Zim!?... W-What are you... d-doing here?" Dib stuttered and stared incredulously at the Irken with puffy eyes. But at the same time, hope building up in him. That lasted not long, since when his eyes wandered down, he spotted his backpack in Zim's claws and instantly he knew... or believed to know.

"Oh I-I see... m-my bag, ummm... thanks, Zim. I totally forgot it, after our... m-my..." He couldn't finish the sentence. All the memories from before bubbled up on him. Zim's face - full of disbelief and betrayal. His shouting. 'I don't believe you'... Dib bowed his head, ashamed of himself and the tears which threatened to come back again. Suddenly, he wanted to say so much to Zim. How sorry he was for bringing that stupid camera.

For just leaving.

How much he cared about the green jerk, HIS jerk... But no sound left his lips. No words, whimpers or sobs. Just a light tremble.

Dib thought that the other was just here to give him the backpack. What other reason could it be? After all, HE should be the one coming to Zim to apologize, but that wasn't necessary anymore, since enemies don't apologize So, Dib just sat there and waited to hear the sound of an closing door, for Zim to leave, so he would be alone again. Like he always was...

Watching Dib's reaction to his presence made Zim some what uneasy... Maybe he should have just given Gaz the bag to give to Dib... No! He had to do this in person! Face to face... Well, close enough, since Dib's head was now bowed... Whilst he had been fixing the camera, he had thought of all sorts of things to say, almost planning out the conversation in his head... But now, his mind went blank. Well... here it goes.

"Uh... Well, I'm here t-to apologize actually... ...W-When you broke the c-camera... It made me realize t-that it would have d-destroyed any pictures too... S-So... there wasn't any... Was there? Zim was s-stupid for not believing you... So... I-I'm sorry..."

Looking down at his shoes, he began to fiddle with the bag's handle out of worry.

"I-I also... um... f-fixed- well, tried to, fix your c-camera..." He began, reaching a hand into the bag and pulling out the misshapen device. "But... when I t-tried to take a picture to t-test it... it, um... didn't seem to work... Sorry about that too..." He finished, holding it out for the other to take, whilst placing the bag on the ground.

Once Dib had taken the camera, Zim placed his hands behind his back, before continuing. "Y-You didn't h-have to smash it, you know... Since now... it d-doesn't work... Well, I think it doesn't... since the screen stayed black... B-But that may be because i-it's smashed... Zim doesn't know..." He admitted, looking back up to Dib's face... His eyes were all puffy...

"H-Has the human b-been crying?" He asked, stepping forwards slightly from concern...

Well, hearing an apologize from Zim instead of his own was a big surprise for Dib. So, taking the camera, he stared at the Irken with wide eyes, before looking to the more-or-less fixed device in his hands. Seeing it now, he realized how plain stupid it was from him to just smash his camera. But in that moment, he focused all his emotions on that think, thinking it was all its fault, not his. Yet again... regarding what Zim just said, if he didn't smash the device, would Zim be even here now? Standing in his room and apologizing to Dib? He wasn't sure...

"Zim, I... it was... it was just natural for you to react t-that way. Suspicious and all... After all I've done in the past-"

He glanced to the mess on the ground before his cupboard.

"- it was normal t-to think I w-wanted to take pictures t-to expose you. L-Like I did before. I-I think I wouldn't have acted different, if I... were you, seeing that camera..." Slowly, that tightening, gripping feeling in his chest vanished.

Just minutes ago, he thought of the worst. Friendship over. Back to being enemies and stuff... But now, it all changed. They were still friends, right? Looking up from the device in his hand, Dib was now able to just look at Zim instead. And mustering the other's features, the boy saw the sincere regret and concern, like he never saw it in Zim's eyes... That made him feel only more guilty.

"You don't have to be s-sorry, Zim! No! It's me... I was the one who got that s-stupid camera in his bag. I-I should have know it was still there... and should have known you would react that way. I was stupid and... careless. A-And it's my fault, all my fault!" His voice regained some energy through his speech.

"Z-Zim... I really should have known. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to scare y-you like that. I-I would never 'expose' you anymore. To no-one. Y-You're my friend... and friends don't do such things. Never..."

Looking back down at the camera, Dib tried to turn it on... but nothing happened. "I don't mind if it works. It's not my only camera anyhow. And there actually were pictures of you in it, but-" He quickly looked apologetically to the Irken "-b-but they were weeks old and I-I never copied or used them for any e-exposings, Zim. If anything, I'm glad they're gone."

That caused him a tiny Dib-smile. Meekly, he added. "Ya' know... I find it r-really nice of you to fix the camera... at least you've tried. But still, it's... a sweet action of you." Reaching out to feel his lightly swollen eyes, Dib remembered the Irken's last question. "Well, yes...-"he said and hastily added. "B-But it's not your fault, Zim! Really. I guess I'm just a crybaby sometimes..." Dib replied half-jokingly.

Smiling reassuringly at Zim, he crawled closer to the edge and patted the bed beside him. "A-And you don't have to stand there the whole time."

Happy that the main part of the conversation was over, Zim took the hint and sat next to the other, placing his hands in his lap. To him, the moment between them was awkward again... Well, it was to be expected. No-one has an misunderstanding, apologizes and goes right back to normal straight away... It took time. Not long, but still...

One thing which was still bugging Zim was what he said to Dib when he threw the camera... That he didn't believe him... Friendship included trust and belief... The two things which he didn't have at that time. And what was needed too. Silently sighing, Zim began to stare at the floor, just thinking... About the second thing he had said... He had compared the human to the empire... Basically saying that he had betrayed him... He was really starting to get angry with himself now...

"A-And I'm sorry for what I said too... Y-You're not l-like 'them'... And I d-do believe you..." He mumbled, wanting to make that clear... With his hands, he began to mess with his jeans... Changing his gaze from the floor, instead, he looked at the clothes he was wearing now... The ones Dib had brought for him... If he was really back to his old ways, then he wouldn't have done that then, would he?

'Why the heck didn't you realize that before?!' He mentally screamed to himself, suddenly embarrassed from his own stupidity.

"...Thank you..." Zim mumbled, avoiding the other's gaze at all cost.

He was referring to everything... For being there for him, the clothes, the ice-cream, the waffle, the bike lesson, the voot cruiser ride with him, the happiness, the cuddles, but over all... being his friend and forgiving him.

There was so much he wanted to say... But words could never express his thoughts, nor could they ever come close to how much he meant it... Reaching out a hand, he grabbed Dib's one and gently squeezed their hands together, whilst smiling slightly to himself, whilst changing his gaze back to the floor.

There, hopefully that may help. Help him understand how thankful he really was.

Glad that the other took the offer and sat now beside him, Dib didn't expect more apologizes, spilling out of Zim's mouth. But Dib just let him speak, causing Dib's heart to warm up. And after the little 'thank you' coming from Zim, he couldn't help but shuffling closer to Zim and using his free arm to wrap it around the smaller Irken's waist, while at the same time squeezing back with his other hand.

"There's nothing to be s-sorry about, Zim... I-I guess we both just kind of... overreacted. Seems l-like such things a-are part of a friendship... But as long as it got sorted out, it's okay." Dib realized that for himself in the same moment. And somehow, the boy knew the 'thank you' was for the past few days. For all the nice things they'd done. Just from the way Zim said it... how could he not care about his Irken?

"...Zim, you're very welcome." The Irken had said that quite often by now, when Dib thanked him, so it felt nice to have to say it back now. "T-There's one thing you said today a-and... it's the same for me. When you're happy, then I am..."

Nuzzling his face into Zim's neck, Dib watched out of the window. The full moon was hanging up in the sky, so his room was filled with its light. He didn't realize that until now. 'Is it already that late?' he thought. 'Oh, well...'

Hearing those words come from Dib made Zim feel so... so happy! There wasn't really another way to explain it. His small smile increased until it was almost a grin, and the worry-caused knot in his 'stomach' instantly left. It seemed like it didn't take long at all for them to go back to normal at all really... And he was happy for that.

Yet one thought was still nagging at him... What would have happened if he hadn't of come round? Would they still be friends? Or... or back to enemies... He really didn't want to think about that to be honest... Because that would mean that everything in the past few days had been for nothing... Forgotten even. But no, that wasn't happening!

They were still friends... And that's what mattered. Feeling the other's face on his neck once again, Zim knew that all was forgot and forgiven... Deciding to not think anymore on the matter, he let go of Dib's hand, and instead wrapped both arms around his torso, in a hug. Yeah... back to normal.

Now that his hand was free, Dib instantly used his other arm to complete his hug around Zim. For him, it felt like that incident today had only bond them together even more in the end. So that meant their friendship was stronger than before. 'Maybe things happen for a reason...' Dib mused as he stared outside and watched the moon when it got covered by a cloud, which passed by after some seconds. Suddenly, he remembered something he mentioned right before the bike lessons.

Climbing the roofs...

"Zim-", Dib softly mumbled against the other's skin. "-Do y-you remember what I mentioned before we l-left the base? That we could climb on the roofs a-at night. Well, t-tonight is a full moon and... maybe we could watch the stars on the roof... i-if you want." Surely something like that was quite ordinary for an alien space traveller like Zim was, but the Irken said it was a good idea, so it was worth a try.

Dib's words also brought back memories of that suggestion for Zim too. Yeah! It was dark outside, and as the human said, it was a full moon. So why not? "Sure. It sounds kind of like fun." He admitted, leaning back slightly to see the human's face. And it would take their minds of the previous conversation too! Plus, it would give them both yet another good memory of their friendship!

So, letting go of Dib, therefore ending the hug, Zim stood up and turned to face the other. Using his PAK, brought out his spider-legs half way. He couldn't bring them out fully since the room was quite a bit smaller and he didn't want to damage anything that belonged to the human.

"Okay, we're going out the window-" he began, pointing to the open window beside Dib's bed. "-And that means you need to hold on tightly..." Zim finished, gesturing behind him, for the human to climb on his back in a piggyback. "I'll try not to drop ya," he added, smirking slightly.

Was it really almost 3 days ago, since Dib saw them the last time? The spider-legs... They were impressive, even if they were shorter than normal. And, different from last time; he wasn't scared or even nervous at seeing them. He knew Zim would never harm him on purpose. So, without further hem and haw, he crawled to Zim, who kneeled with his back before him.

Bushing madly, Dib carefully draped his arms around Zim's neck from behind and, with some struggle, his legs followed soon, which were now tightly wrapped around Zim's waist... There he was, huddled against the Irken's back like a little monkey.

"O-Okay... I'm ready." Dib shyly mumbled and tightened his clutch, just to be sure. He never ridden anyone's back before after all. "I-I hope I'm not too heavy..." But Zim already moved out of the window to the building's side. Avoiding to look down, Dib squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on the click-clack sound of the moving legs.

"B-But no backflips!" Dib warned, half joking, but still...

Once outside, the cold night air instantly hit them. For some reason it was actually a nice feeling, especially compared to the hot weather during the day. "No you're not heavy at all," he assured. Dib was actually surprisingly easy to carry. Heh, probably because of the spider-legs helping him.

The last thing that the other said made Zim chuckle slightly. "Oh don't worry. There's been enough backflips today to last a lifetime." He teased, looking to Dib, but seeing that his eyes were tightly shut. The Irken just smiled slightly, and continued to scale the wall. It was understandable that the human was scared, after all... there was no safety net in the case that they fell. Which they weren't going to.

Once safely on the roof, Zim let the mechanical legs full out, so they were both slightly higher from the floor. "So... Do you want to stay here? Or go to a higher roof?" He asked, not sure if Dib had meant this one or a different one. Either way he was fine with, but still wanted some clarity.

At that last question, Dib finally opened his eyes again. Well, his house wasn't really high, but still it was a nice place to stay for a while. But before Dib answered, he looked down. Zim's spider-legs impressed him as much like when he first saw them, years ago. Just in a different. It was... cool. Looking up, he was also impressed. How beautiful the sky looked...

"I guess I like it here." He said with a smile and jumped on the ground when Zim retracted the mechanical legs. The first thing he noticed, when they both sat beside each other, was the cool breeze up there. Maybe he should have brought a blanket... Looking to Zim and then down to himself, Dib took off his jacket.

It wasn't fair, since Zim was wearing just a T-Shirt and surely he was a bit cold. So, without further pondering, he neatly draped his trench coat over Zim's shoulders, who was surprised about that, as Dib saw.

"You're cold, so I thought y-you would like to wear my trench coat for a while."

His favourite clothing. He wears it almost everyday. Just a week ago, he would find the image of the Irken, wearing HIS beloved jacket ridiculous. But now... he really didn't mind it to share with Zim. Freezing just a little bit, it was excuse enough for Dib to eagerly crawl closer to the Irken, draping his right arm around his waist and leaning his head on Zim's shoulder, while watching the wandering moon and the sky. Full of blinking stars.

The sudden warmth was unexpected to say the least. Looking to his shoulder, Zim noticed an odd piece of black clothing... Looking up at Dib, he immediately realized what it was... It was the other's trench coat... It was weird to see Dib without it. Well, yes he'd seen him shirtless, but with just his shirt and no coat, he looked... different. Good different though!

"T-Thank you..." He said, smiling at the other, before looking at the sky. His smile only increased at feeling Dib's arm around him, and his head on his shoulder. Lifting up a hand, Zim started to mess with the other's hair once again, eyes not leaving the sky. Yes, he'd seen them a thousand times, but they were always a nice sight to behold... Made him feel... home, almost... After all, after being in space with nothing to see but stars for days... weeks... even months when coming to Earth, they became so familiar.

And sharing a sight with Dib... his friend... made it so much better. Seeing the sunset was one thing, something that humans were used to, but watching the stars. Heh, Zim was used to that. Their misunderstanding seemed ages ago now... Good. He did NOT want a repeat of that any time soon... At all actually!

Dib's thoughts wandered around, when he looked at the stars in awe. Every time he heard the two simple words 'thank you' from Zim, his heart ached, in a good way though. . It wasn't just a simple thanks like humans say it a dozen times a day, no... When Zim said it, which happens quite seldom, it always sounds so sincere, meaningful. The Irken really meant it, deep from inside him. Dib felt it. How important it was for Zim to say that. It makes the boy so welcome and wanted. When he felt the Irken's claws on his head again, combing gently through his hair, Dib sighed contently and nuzzled into Zim's side even more, wanting to absorb Zim's warmth.

It was such a familiar and comforting gesture... Dib enjoyed the tingling feeling on his scalp so much. He became more and more relaxed and after a while he began to think about the whole 'camera-incident' today, especially after he left the base over an hour ago from now. As he'd laid there in his bed, weeping and full of guilt... with every passing minute he'd missed Zim more and more. Being together with the small Irken for 3 days heretofore, he wasn't used to be alone, if only for some minutes. It was crazy; he barely had entered his room, he already had wanted to run back to the base and cuddle, talk and play with Zim...

Dib lazily lifted his eyes and looked up at Zim, who was gazing at the stars, seemingly thinking about this and that. This small time of separation showed him, in its own kind, how fond of Zim he really was. How much he was able to miss him. And after some more minutes of sitting there, in the arms of his friend... Dib came to an conclusion.

Even he, who never had a friend or even felt affectionate to someone before... even he could feel it, when his instincts told it to him. How infatuated Dib was; maybe even... in love. Those feelings! They got stronger everyday. And this misunderstanding with the camera changed something inside the boy. How important Zim was for him. And vice versa... That butterfly-feeling in his stomach came back when he thought about what Zim had done for him. All the little gestures like the voot cruiser flight, fixing his camera and being here with him to watch the stars together... and all the things to comfort him like hugging or messing with his hair, while resting on the Irken's lap... thinking of that.

With that idea in mind, Dib, who actually smiled from ear to ear, just grabbed Zim's sprawled out legs and skilfully folded them into a cross-legged position. After some minor adjustments, Dib rested his dizzy head on Zim's lap, snatched the not-combing hand of his and played with the green fingers. Now and then, he brought the Irken's palm to his hot cheek and rubbed it, which only increased his smile if that was even possible.

At feeling his legs being moved, Zim stopped his stargazing, and instead, looked down just in time to see Dib getting himself comfortable, and lying his head on his lap. Zim smirked slightly, and continued to watch the other. Heh, he was more interesting than the stars, that was for sure. All stars looked almost exactly alike, but there was only one Dib... So, yeah, he was definitely more interesting.

"Looks like someone's getting comfy," he teased, actually quite happy that the other liked this position as much as he did. And, this was almost like a half cuddle really, wasn't it? Even if not, it was still nice for them both. Since now, he could see both the stars and Dib whenever he wished, without having to look to the side. Now the moment couldn't possibly get any better... Just them both, with the night sky to accompany them.

Perfect...

Yet... the stars also told another story in Zim's mind. About how they'd always stay the same now... Since he'd always be on Earth. No more flying through different galaxies, nor to his home planet. Banished meant you have to stay... No leaving. That was good and bad in some ways... Good since now he had all the time in the world to spend with Dib, but bad also since he'd never be able to go... well, home... again. He'd never thought of his base as 'home', since it WAS only a temporary place to stay until his mission was over. Now not so much... 'I guess I'll have to get used to calling it that then,' Zim thought, returning his gaze to the sky. Full of shining stars.

But only after a few moments, they started to get boring... So, looked back down at Dib... Much better. Noticing how the other placed his hand on his cheek every so often, he waited until the next time he did it, and once he did, used his thumb to rub against the human's pale skin. Since Dib seemed to like his hand so much, he guessed he'd like that too.

"...Hmm, yeah. I told you that you're... the best pillow... be it your chest, your head or just your lap. It's nice and so snug..." It sounded like he was half asleep, but actually Dib was very awake in this moment. Seconds after he'd spoken, he felt the Irken's caressing thumb rubbing against his skin ever so slightly. It was amazing. This small movement alone caused the boy to feel so much.

"You know what I like, Zim..." He mumbled. Soon, only feeling it on his skin wasn't enough, so out of an strange urge, he grabbed Zim's hand and... sucked on each finger. First the thumb entered his mouth. Dib wanted to taste those fingers again and again. So it started with curious licking, before he wrapped his whole tongue around each finger and happily and enjoyed the somewhat light sweet-salty taste. After he tasted each finger one time, he kissed the palm of Zim's hand. Now feeling even more heated, he took both of Zim's hands and hesitantly slid them under his own shirt, so they laid neatly on his stomach.

He quietly gasped, when the slightly cooler hands came in contact with the sensitive skin there. He hoped it wasn't getting too weird. That he wasn't making this nice moment too awkward again. So Dib let go of the other's hands and rested his own on Zim's lap, not knowing what to do with them at this moment.

The tone of Dib's voice sounded like he was sleepy... or maybe just relaxed? Either way, Zim was quite happy with the compliment. He didn't find it necessary to keep repeating that 'he was no pillow', since to Dib it didn't seem to matter. So Zim just chuckled slightly, but stopped when he felt something warm and wet around his fingers... Looking towards his hand, he saw that the human had stuck his fingers in his mouth... Odd, but wasn't going to complain. It was a weird sensation...

Almost like a warm slug was crawling on his hand, only that would be disgusting. And this wasn't. If anything... it was almost... 'cute'. That lasted for a few moments, before his hand got put under Dib's shirt. Zim's eyes widened ever so slightly at this, and the quiet gasp which escaped the other only made a faint blush appear on the Irken's face. Once his hand was free, Zim didn't remove his hand from the human's stomach. No, he instead started to rub it, enjoying the slight warmth on his hand.

Heh, suddenly a funny thought appeared in his mind. "You know, you almost look like a dog like this," he said, giggling slightly.

Embedded in the pleasant sensation of Zim's massage, Dib almost missed the other's comment. But... the boy was sure he got compared to a dog. His half-lidded eyes opening, Dib gazed up to Zim's amused face, then back to the rubbing hands under his shirt... Instead of getting embarrassed about the comment, he decided to play along. The happy smile on his face turned into a more smug one.

"Oh, really...?" He mumbled. Dib's face shortly flared up before he... made a quiet woof, followed by a joyful whimper. During some more woofs, Dib fully stretched his lanky legs before retracting them to his chest. He squirmed around a bit, but not too much to not disturb Zim's caressing hands.

To complete the play, Dib held up his hands beside his face, like when a dog begs. "...woof...woof!"

Not thinking that Dib would think much of his previous opinion, Zim was surprised to actually see the other responding to it in such a way. To be honest, he was actually thinking that maybe the human would get offended or embarrassed by the comment; but he only realized that once he'd actually said it, so it was too late. But no, Dib seemed to actually be finding this... fun?

All the way through the performance, Zim was finding it extremely difficult to keep a straight face, let alone laugh. After the last few barks, it became too much. Bursting out laughing, Zim had to remove his hand from the other's head to cover his mouth, to try and silence his laughter.

It was a struggle, but he managed it. But still, a few giggles escaped every now and then.

Returning the hand back to Dib's head, began to pat his head gently, as you do with a dog. "Such a good dog!" He stated, still chuckling, before stopping the patting and starting to comb through his hair once again.

The Dib-dog liked that comment and contently whimpered. When the Irken started his combing motion again, one of Dib's legs began to twitch now and then. After a short while of enjoying Zim's hand on his belly and head, Dib's imagination got the better of him.

Swiftly he got up and wildly threw himself against Zim, so they almost toppled over. Like a dog in a playful mood, Dib wrapped his arms around the other's back and licked Zim's face with short fond licks, making high pitched woof-sounds.

Okay, maybe this whole 'dog thing' was going a little too far... Zim had only said it to tease slightly, but now it almost seemed like Dib actually had the mind of a dog! Yelping slightly from the sudden weight, Zim quickly put his hands behind him to stop both of them from falling onto the roof beneath them. Zim winced slightly from the licks his face was receiving, yet his smile remained.

"Uh, Dib-friend... You do know you're actually a human, right? Not a dog... Even if you do, do a good impression," he said, careful not to make it sound like he was complaining. Since he wasn't. It was actually quite funny to watch.

He was just slightly concerned if the other was in his right mind at the moment. Opening an eye slightly, he could see the human's smile, and that only made Zim's smile bigger.

Curious about how Zim would react to this, Dib-boy already asked himself the same question, but found it way too funny to stop now. "Yeah, of course I'm a human, but... maybe I make a nice dog too. You said so!" He answered with a all too happy voice.

And with that, he snuggled up to Zim again and made a quiet growling sound, before he nibbled playfully on Zim's neck, being careful not to accidentally bite him. Strange, since the taste there was slightly different from that of Zim's fingers. After some nibbling moments, Dib stopped and lightly panted against the wet green skin. He concentrated on the waves of heat and joy, which rolled over his body.

He let out a content sigh and curled around his Irken. "Mine..." He mumbled and turned into a human again.

"Mine to play with, mine to care about, mine to comfort..."

With every 'mine', Dib's voice got more and more quieter, until it was barely above a whisper.

After some seconds, he was almost asleep, when the last few words left his mouth: "...Mine to love... Zim..." Dib possessively tightened his hug around Zim and soon drifted off into a carefree, deep sleep.

The feeling of Dib's teeth gently grazing against his neck, Zim's eyes fell half-lidded. It was slightly weird for this to be happening on the roof! Almost in public really. Well, not that anyone could see them, but still. The cold air didn't feel so cold anymore, and the stars had completely lost their interest. They just seemed to be blurred into the background now. Not so important. Listening to Dib's bunch of 'mine's, Zim's smile only grew until it was a grin, and he could tell the other was falling asleep. Well, it had been a long day. For both of them.

Yet, the last 'mine' which left Dib's lips made the Irken almost freeze in shock. Looking down at the other who was now breathing steadily and eyes shut, Zim knew he had fallen asleep, but... He really wanted to ask what he had meant by that last part. He replayed those few words in his head multiple times.

'Mine to love.'

...What did that mean? Did the other... love him? No. That couldn't be right. Only an hour or so ago they had that misunderstanding... And they were friends. Special friends! Ugh... How he wished the other was awake to ask... But he wasn't. He'd have to wait till morning.

Carefully moving his arms, Zim changed their position so Dib was almost lying on top of him. Wrapping his arms and legs around him, so he wouldn't fall, brought out his PAK legs and lifted them both up off the roof. Once he was sure he had a good grip around the other, began the descent down the wall, back to Dib's room.

The trip back to the base could wait until morning.

Once back inside, Zim hovered them both over the human's bed, and gently lowered Dib down so as not to wake him. There, now that the other was safely back in his room, Zim moved over to the floor, and retracted the mechanical legs. For a moment or so, he debated to go back to the base or not... He didn't want to leave the other, especially since he wanted an answer to his question so badly...

What had he meant? Zim just shrugged to himself, and walked over to the sleeping human. Surely he wouldn't mind if he stayed the night? Hopefully not... So, climbing up, he positioned himself so that he was now lying on top of Dib. His personal favourite sleeping position... with the human as a pillow.

'Heh, now who's the pillow?' Zim mentally teased, resting his head down. Letting his eyes fall shut also, he too quickly fell asleep, lulled by the constant sound of the other's beating heart.


	40. Chapter 40

**Well, this chapter really is a key moment in their relationship. So full of emotions and stuff...**

**Enjoy :D**

The next morning, Dib's mind slowly emerged from the recharging sleep depths into the reality. Keeping his eyes closed, the first ting he sensed was a weight on top of him. It was warm and slightly vibrating. Dib instantly knew what it was. Who it was. Zim...

The boy smiled happily at that thought and opened his eyes. Their faces were just inches apart, when Dib mustered the other's face. A big smile spread across the Irken's face. He looked so calm and happy! Dib replayed the scene last night in his mind. How they watched the stars together, but soon got distracted by each other. How Zim eventually said he looked like a dog and... how that caused Dib to actually act like dog!

His face flared up immediately at that memory. He remembered that play all too well... Anyhow, sometime he must have fallen asleep on the roof, so that meant, Zim carried him down here onto his bed. For Dib, it looked like Zim had watched him in his sleep, until he fell asleep himself. Zim cared so much for him! It was always so touching to know, how affectionate Zim can be...

Carefully, as not to wake the Irken up, Dib placed his hands fondly on Zim's cheeks and rubbed them for a moment. Then he leaned forward and placed a very light, gentle kiss on Zim's lips. The Irken's warm breath tickled his lips after he pulled away and closely mustered the green face. Even with closed eyes and that odd wig on, Zim looked nice, interesting.

With a sigh, Dib let his head fall on his pillow and watched out of the window. It was still open, so he heard the birds singing and the sun sending its warming rays all over him and the Irken on top of him. A gaze to the watch said it was already 11:32 am. Dib didn't wonder about that. He didn't feel so damn relaxed in a long long while... A certain someone being the cause.

After a bunch of more minutes, the call of nature reported. A shower wouldn't be wrong too. And thinking about the Skool... Dib should at least call, saying he will be back in a few days.

So, reluctantly deciding to get up, Dib very carefully crawled out from under Zim and neatly placed the Irken on his side and gave him a pillow to snuggle to during the boy's absence. Looking at his sleeping friend, Dib covered Zim with a blanket to replace some of his warmth. He wanted to get back before the other woke up, so Dib sneakily tip-toed to the door and slipped through, heading for the bathroom...

Even the slight loss in warmth was enough to make the Irken aware there was a change... So, slowly opening his eyes, the first thing which became obvious, was an irritation to Zim's eyes... This is why he didn't keep his contacts on over night often. Groaning, he lifted up a hand and rubbed them to try and stop the itching.

Now that the room was clear, no more sleep-caused blur, there was one obvious thing missing... Dib. Instantly sitting up, Zim scanned the room for the other's presence... Nothing. Then, what had he been hugging...? Looking down, there was one of the human's pillows next to the place he had been. His sleepy expression soon turned into a confused one. Maybe he had gone somewhere? But where would he g-

A flushing noise of a toilet clarified that.

Zim just rolled his eyes at this, but couldn't help but smile slightly; still half asleep, so found it too much effort to laugh. It was only at realizing that his sitting up hadn't removed any of his warmth, that he looked down. Well one, there was a blanket over him, and two, he was still wearing Dib's trench coat. Reaching to his shoulder, he pulled it off and placed it on the bed next to him. For a moment or so, he just stared at it, smiling to himself at what a nice gesture it actually was for Dib to let him borrow it last night.

Suddenly a question he had almost forgotten came racing back into his head. Instantly Zim's eyes widened at that. 'Mine to love...' he mentally repeated again. Every time he thought about it, it caused a slight blush to appear. Now he really wished he had woken up earlier, so he could ask the question immediately, but obviously the human had beaten him to it.

Groaning slightly from annoyance, and at his still itchy eyes, Zim decided he should just take out the stupid things. So, carefully taking out the contacts, placed them on his lap, and blinked a few times. No difference. Ugh... Returning his hand to his eyes, started to rub again, whilst looking around the room.

It was lit up with the sun's rays, and that also made it warmer than usual. Looking to the floor, there was quite a few pieces of paper scattered around, but looking more closely, they weren't just paper. They were pictures. Of him? Leaning forward slightly, Zim narrowed his eyes, to get a better look. Yeah, they were all of him, some including GIR... But they appeared to be torn down... in some sort of anger in appeared. Probably their previous misunderstanding...

Shaking his head slightly, Zim began to just look out the window, waiting until the other returned.

Ten minutes later, the bathroom door opened and revealed freshly showered, clean Dib, surrounded by clouds of steam and with damp hair. He rubbed it one last time, but still his formerly scythe-lock was hanging limply beside his face. When his ebony-black hair has completely dried, the lock magically built up on itself to its usual glory. Without any types gel or sprays.

A blue towel was tightly draped around his waist. Being sure Zim would be still asleep when he returned, Dib didn't find the need to take the fresh clothes to the bathroom, changing there. So he quietly opened the door and entered... Looking to the floor, he didn't notice the already awake Zim until he closed the door behind him. Turning to the bed, he tensed and blushed greatly. Zim was curiously mustering him.

"Ummm... h-hey, Zim. I d-didn't know you're awake..." He stuttered.

Still looking out the window, Zim was beginning to wonder if Dib was ever coming back... Well, of course he was, but still, it seemed like forever. But checking the time via his PAK, it had only been a few minutes. Sighing, he turned his gaze back to the door, and was surprised to see it opening, slower than usual, and no noise whatsoever being present...

Tilting his head to the side slightly, Zim carried on watching, until someone made an entrance. That someone being Dib. Yet... the only thing he was wearing was a towel. He wasn't sure whether to look away or not, since the other seemed rather embarrassed when he noticed him being awake. But when Zim kept staring, that weird knotting feeling reappeared in his 'stomach'...

"Y-Yeah, I've been awake for awhile..." He explained, now deciding to avert his gaze. If it was making the other feel uncomfortable, then he knew it was wrong to look.

'I can tell,' Dib thought and made his way to the cupboard. Passing by the bed, he saw that Zim intentionally averted his gaze. The boy knew why. Still... was it that obvious that he got embarrassed? Probably, since his face felt hotter than usual. Anyhow, he didn't like the way how Zim was avoiding eye contact. Why was he embarrassed to be seen by Zim with just a towel on? Well, he felt kinda naked with just that thing around him, feeling like it could fall down every moment. But they did so much stuff by now, like cuddling shirtless and kissing. This situation really shouldn't be a problem...

So, after some pondering, Dib decided just put on new underwear and fresh sweatpants, since they were quite comfy at home. There was another thing too... Zim's gaze. It was weird, but the way Zim stared at him, curious and a bit shocked, was... nice to see.

Dib thought they really should get accustomed to see more of each other's skin. Before that train of thoughts got down the wrong road, the boy walked over to the bed and sat cross-legged before Zim on it. It was nice to let the sun shine down on your chest. Warm and refreshing. And since Dib was so pale, he could need some sun rays.

"Y-You don't have to look down, Zim. I was just... a bit embarrassed, but honestly, that's stupid. You're my friend, so there's nothing I should be embarrassed about," he declared and grabbed Zim's head to make the other look at him. "Heh, I'm glad you're awake, Zimmy. I just didn't want to disturb you, since you slept so peaceful... o-on top of me... But it seems you instantly noticed my absence." He chuckled and let go of Zim.

"Well a pillow is hardly a substitute, you know," Zim mumbled, pointing to the pillow which he had, embarrassingly, woken up hugging. But it seemed like he hadn't woken up much later than Dib had, which was at least something. It would have been even more embarrassing if he had been like that for longer than was necessary.

Crossing his arms, Zim was still wondering when he should actually ask the question which had been nagging at him since last night. It was almost painful trying to figure it out, but he knew that asking such a question such as, what had Dib meant, would only cause both of them embarrassment. But, it'd also give him an answer... Or not. He had a suspicion he knew what Dib had meant, but part of him was saying how much of a stupid idea it was. Well, this moment seemed as good of a time as any to ask... But HOW to ask was the question. After a few moments of thought, he got it.

"This may be completely off subject... but. Y-You know yesterday? When we were on t-the roof. Well... Um. Before you fell asleep, you... mumbled s-something. D-Do you remember what it was? A-And if so... What did you mean by it?" Zim asked, careful not to mention what Dib actually said... Just in case the other had forgotten. If so, then it'd just be even more awkward for the other to remember. And even more so to say...

Relieved that Zim was at least looking at him again, Dib smiled... but not for too long, since his face soon turned into a concerned one. Zim was suddenly getting really nervous. What was he talking about? At first, the boy had no idea, so he just closed his eyes and replayed their 'session' on the roof. Just thinking of it caused Dibs stomach to make backflips...

His trench coat sharing, the cuddling including resting on Zim's lap and... well, the fun part with Dib acting like a dog. Again, this caused a blush on Dib's face. Hmm, seems that his mind went... unusual sometimes when he was so close to Zim. Which was quite a lot the past days. However, after the whole 'dog-thing', his face was nuzzled into the crook of Zim's neck. And... yeah, then he mumbled some words to himself, already half asleep. But what was it exactly...?

Opening his eyes, Dib looked at Zim.

"W-Well, the last thing I remember is that I fell asleep... on your shoulder and then I said something to myself. I guess I was already sleeping, I don't know. But... umm I can't remember what it was."

At seeing Zim's expression, he suddenly panicked a bit. Obviously he unconsciously had said something very important... Dib's eyes widened, assuming the worst. "Z-Zim... I didn't say anything bad to you, right? I-I mean... I honestly don't know what I said back then. Just I mumbled something...maybe in my dreams, but... wait! You heard it, so it wasn't in my dreams and..."

Dib crawled nearer to Zim, now scared to have hurt the other with his words

"Zim! I-I'm sorry, if it was something horrible or insulting... I... umm..." He calmed down a bit. "W-Well, what DID I say actually?" Dib asked and fiddled with his fingers, as nervous as Zim was. "...I really hope it wasn't something bad..." the boy quietly added.

Zim's eyes widened at hearing that Dib didn't remember... This was the one thing he was dreading to hear... Ugh, now he'd have to repeat it... Oh no.

"N-No, it wasn't an insult... quite t-the opposite really... Umm..." He paused, looking back down to the contacts which lay in his lap. It was a quite easy thing to say, but also difficult beyond belief too! Especially since Dib had said it... to him! It probably didn't mean anything, since the human was half asleep at the time... But still. Now he had to say something.

"W-Well you said... Uh... You s-started saying l-lots of 'mine's... Such as 'mine to care about' o-or... 'mine to comfort'... and... as you were falling asleep you s-said...- It's probably not important! But uhh... um... you said... 'mine to l-love'..." Zim finished, face turning a darker shade once again at the mention of the 'L' word.

It was only now that he regretted even mentioning it. It wasn't even important, so why? Well, he wanted an answer for one, and two, it wasn't something he could just ignore either, for some reason.

First Dib was relieved that at least it wasn't something bad. But with every second Zim got more nervous and accordingly, Dib too. Actually, Zim seemed as much nervous as the day before, when they got the 'mate' conversation... Anyhow, Dib listened on and first made a confused and slightly blushing face at hearing the first 'mines'. But when he heard the last one... well, Tomato-Dib was back in all his glory!

'Did... Did I really said that?' He mentally asked and repeated the three 'mines' in his head over and over again. And suddenly... he remembered. The scene came back and with that, Dib was overflowed by all the good feelings in that certain moment on the roof... Like the 'mines' were the key to his memory.

The scene repeated itself several times in his mind: He had rested his head on Zim's shoulder mumbled barely audible, 'mine to play with... mine to care about... mine to comfort... mine to love... Zim...' Dib didn't know it, but with each time he 'saw' himself saying that, his smile grew, until it was covering his whole face. The boy almost felt like he was there again, snuggling to Zim and saying those sweet words to his Irken... Looking up at Zim, Dib revealed his white teeth, the grin never leaving his face.

"Z-Zim... It may sound stupid now, b-but... now that you mention those words a-again, I-I... remember h-how I said them last n-night. Like you opened m-my memory or something... W-Well I-I ummm..."

Briefly, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the feelings which flooded through his body, to find the right words.

Taking a deep breath, Dib continued: "Z-Z...Zim, I'm feeling like in t-that exact moment. It's nice. I h-have to say, I thought about it, especially... when w-we had that misunderstanding. B-But before too..."

Out of nervousness, he grabbed one of Zim's hands and looked at it. He didn't care how he rambled on, but felt like it was the right moment to talk about it. Since the moment was already really awkward.

"All the f-feelings I get when... when I'm with you. E-Everyday they get more intense and I-I... I think I know w-what that is..." Slightly shaking now, Dib grabbed the second hand too, and constantly squeezed them. "Zim, a-all I wanna say is... well, I said that stuff b-because y-you're mine. Y-You belong to me... a-and... ummm..." He rubbed his neck, took off his glasses and quickly snatched the hand again, before Dib looked up to Zim. With that smile and a rarely seen determination in his golden-amber eyes. In this moment, he knew it. He just KNEW it!

"I-I said it b-because... well, I think... no, I know I do...I-" Taking a last deep breath, Dib shuffled closer to Zim and gulped.

"...I-I... love you, Z-Zim..."

The realization that appeared on Dib's face, and then which was soon clarified in words, made Zim extremely relieved that he had no need to explain further. Because he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to. But obviously there was no need now. Letting out a sigh, Zim continued to listen to what the other had to say, and soon his face turned into that of confusion, especially once his hand got grabbed in an almost self-reassuring way.

He was only expecting a small answer. Like something such as 'I don't know' or... or maybe even just a shrug. Yet, he got an entire conversation worth of explanation. He didn't mind of course, but it was still kind of tricky to stay focused. Since he didn't get a straight answer... more of a build up until the answer... And what an answer he got!

"W-What...?" Was all he could manage, face on fire. Looking at Dib's huge smile and -now with no glasses- gleaming eyes, Zim wanted to smile back. But every inch of him was frozen in time. Even blinking was difficult since he didn't want to stop staring at the other. In all honestly, he didn't know what to say, since that was the LAST thing on his list of 'possible answers' that he was expecting to hear.

And even if it may sound dramatic, he actually felt rather faint... Never had he expected to hear those few words being said to him... HIM! Especially from any human... including Dib.

"Y-You... You... You l-l-love Zim?" Zim asked, voice higher than usual, but soon after, a rather small smile appeared on his face to replace the previous shocked expression. Blush remained, yes, but lessened as the first shock was in the past.

Zim still couldn't believe what he had just heard. Even though Dib had obviously said it. His squeedily spooch felt like it was twisting in the tightest knots imaginable and his chest felt like their was a fire inside of it. Ignited by the human's words.

The entire room seemed like nothing, as if it wasn't even there. Obviously it was, but to the Irken, only them two existed at that moment. There could have been a forest fire around them and he still wouldn't notice. From shock, and from a strange happiness caused by those few, small, but meaningful words.

It was like Dib realized it in this very moment... that he, in fact, loved Zim! He already thought about that possibility before, yes, but saying it out aloud to Zim... Well, that was a whole different thing. Knowing that fact took some time to comprehend, for both of them, Dib silently watched Zim's reaction.

Despite Dib's nervousness and shock, he couldn't help but find Zim's reaction amusing. The way the Irken was blushing and stuttering... just like he himself! Well, who could blame them. Zim and Dib loving each other... neither of them thought that could happen in a million years. Yet, here they were. Sitting, blushing like never before and smiling!

Before he could stop himself, Dib suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the Irken's neck, so their foreheads touched. Dib felt the need to do something, since his body felt like it was exploding with new emotions of joy. Alive. He was so alive! It felt like a dam broke. Inside Dib's heart...

"Y-Yes...Yes, Zim! I-I do... I really do love you! Yes. Yes, Yes!... Z-Zim... I wasn't sure before, but now... now I KNOW it. I really love you, Zim!"

He passionately kissed his Irken; with so much force that Zim tumbled over and landed on the soft pillow he previously hugged, with Dib on top of him. The contacts along with the trench coat fell on the floor, like they knew the bed was now reserved for the two love-birds. Dib ordered his tongue to taste and explore every millimetre of the Irken's moist cavern.

His kiss was fuelled by emotions of pure delight and desire of a whole new level.

At the sudden closeness of their faces, Zim's blush only increased once again, but so did his smile when Dib repeated his previous words again. He did, he really did love him! At this information in hand, Zim's mind began to go blank again, but got interrupted when both their lips met in another kiss. But this one was not like any that they had done before... It seemed more... right, really. Since before he always had that one little fact nagging in the back of his mind. 'Friends don't do this,' but now, heh, it didn't seem like they were friends anymore. Something else was between them now. Something special that couldn't be replaced. It also seemed more passionate than any they shared before either. And that only added to the surprise of the sudden motion.

Letting out a small yelping noise at the back of his throat as they fell, Zim wrapped his arms around the human's torso in a tight hug. The sun outside had kept the sheets below them warm, so he was greeted with a warmth below him, and on top of him, caused by Dib. Now Zim was extremely happy that he had mentioned the question about yesterday's mumble. Yet couldn't help but wonder what they'd be doing now if he hadn't... Well, they'd probably just be talking about this and that... No, this was much better.

Shivering slightly from the feel of the other's tongue in his mouth, Zim used his own to wrap around the intruder. Not so much as a battle this time though, more of a 'tongue-hug'... If that didn't sound too weird. Oh well. Shutting his eyes, the Irken let all thoughts silence and just enjoyed the rush of happiness flowing through him.

Oh boy. Before Dib thought their kisses couldn't get any better. But now... well, he learned it actually was possible. And how possible it was! They didn't really do anything different from previous kisses, but... god, it felt so much better. And their first kiss was already mind-blowing, so... things reached a whole new scale. And this time, Dib gladly let his other side take control, because now it felt... different from before.

All the time, only one thought was present in the boy's head. Zim. Zim... Zim. ZIM! No thinking about what they were now or if Zim knew what that 'love' was. Hell, Dib didn't know any of it, but still just felt he loved Zim. All the feelings, in his belly and his chest... that was love! And now it exploded, shot out of Dib.

A love-radiating Dib...

His Irken beneath him, squirming and shuddering. Almost as much as Dib. He was in ecstasy. Out of instinct, the boy tossed Zim's wig on the floor and firmly grazed his nails along the whole length of one of the twitching stalks, knowing Zim would like that.

A few strands of Dib's still a bit damp hair fell on Zim's cheek and his forehead. The faint smell of Dib's favourite shampoo hit his nose, causing him to smile into the kiss. He felt like new-born. In several ways.

The whole 'silencing thoughts' thing didn't last for very long at all. Zim just couldn't stop thinking; comparing this moment, to moments which happened weeks ago. No-one in their right mind, would ever think that they both would come to this.

From enemies, to friends, to special friends, to... well, he didn't know.

What did this make them...? Did it make them... 'mates'? Who knows. But what Zim did know, was that whatever it was, it was bringing both him and Dib closer. And that was good... great in fact! After a moment or so, there was a slight weight change on top of Zim's head. The sun's rays instantly hit it, causing a warm sensation.

So... the wig was off it seemed. But, the sun's rays weren't the only thing which came into contact with him. Soon, Dib's fingers were on his antenna again, which caused the familiar purr to return. But, also the unwanted cloudy feeling. Most senses going numb, but some increasing from it too. One of them being touch. So, he instantly knew that some of the other's hair had fallen on his face.

The slight dampness wasn't enough to burn, nor even hurt. Just annoyingly tingle. Bringing a hand away from the hug, Zim started to comb through Dib's hair once again, also removing the few off his face. This time though, slightly pulling too. Not enough to harm, but just enough to be noticeable.

As soon as Dib heard the purr along with the light scratching motion of Zim's hand, he reluctantly parted their moths and leaned away to watch the Irken. The boy panted like he'd just sprinted down the street and his tongue hang out of his mouth. Well, now he really looked like a thirsty dog. Also, he looked like a new version of Dib. No glasses, shirtless, damp hair, panting and grinning like a fool. But he only had eyes for Zim.

Dib's hands rested beside the Irkens head, when he looked down at the other. Well, he was careful enough to let go of Zim's antenna... for now. Somehow, he would get Zim to get used to the feeling caused by touching his feelers. The longer he now looked down at the Irken, the stronger that new kind of... desire got. But for now, Dib was able to control himself.

Slurping his tongue back in, Dib tried to speak. "Now... now I know w-what it feels like. 'Love'... actually it's the same... cocktail of emotions I-I felt before. When we cuddled and... just were sitting... together. B-But now...oh, Zim... It's ten times stronger n-now! I feel l-like I'm bursting.-" Looking to the still slightly twitching feeler he caressed before, Dib couldn't help but ask. "D-Did I go too far...too rushed... w-with your antenna?" His smile lessen just a bit, when he asked with slight concern.

Opening his eyes to look at the other, Zim couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Dib looked a right state, but in some way it was actually a good look. Others could even say he looked scruffy, or untidy. But for Zim, heh, it actually looked nice.

"Huh? O-Oh, no... I don't t-think so," he said, slightly confused by what the other meant. "I-It just makes my brain g-go to slush... B-But I don't mind so much... If t-that's what you mean..." He added, pulling a weird face to give an example, before returning back to smiling up at the other.

Dib's explanation to how he was feeling was slight unexpected, but welcome. "That's good, right?" He asked, just wanting to make sure he got the tone of the speech right. Since, Dib had explained before how sometimes his thoughts were bad... but then sometimes good too. So, that would make the moment ten times better... or worse. Well, if it was worse, then they wouldn't be here right now... Would they? He didn't know. But if it was good, then that was great... even more so! Zim still wanted some clarity though.

Sitting on the Irken's belly, Dib tried to assure Zim how good he was feeling. "Well, I-I mentioned it before... it's like having butterflies in your stomach... right here," he tried to explain and pointed to Zim's belly. "...or whatever you Irkens got there..." Dib added giggling.

"I'm getting dizzy and hot; my whole body s-seems to burn. Especially-" His eyes widened in embarrassment. Dib coughed and briefly pointed between his legs. "...E-Especially down there..." The boy mumbled and looked away. Yeah, he was aroused. He couldn't just order his body to say 'no, don't do this or that'. Dib was relieved that the other didn't notice 'it' by now. Luckily he was wearing big sweatpants...

Unconsciously, the memory of the last time it happened appeared in Dib's mind. Zim's innocent question 'W-What's in your pocket, Dib-human?' and... the Irken's hands on his-

"Ahem... a-anyhow... what I'm t-trying to say is that it's a good thing, Zim. A very... very good feeling. K-Kind of like you're feeling right now... w-well, I guess so."

By the way his Irken kissed back and smiled, Dib automatically assumed that Zim felt the same thing. That he... loved him back.

"Guess so?" Zim repeated, slight confusion written in his smile now too. But only after a few moments it clicked in his brain.

"O-Oh..." He mumbled, blush returning. Dib had guessed that he loved him too...

Suddenly deep thought overtook the Irken's mind... Did he love the human? Memories of the previous days flashed before him.

When he helped Dib in the Skool corridor... Even back then he didn't know why he even cared that he had been injured... Usually he wouldn't care in the slightest... But no, that time it was different. And then there was the first time they both had... kissed. How much of a different, yet pleasant, experience it was for both of them. Also when the Tallest had said... well, yeah... and how supportive Dib had been at that time... Not even being the slightest bit happy about him not destroying his planet... but just being there for him!

When they went to the shopping centre, with the silly hats and such. Heh, that was embarrassing, but in a good way. Plus it was funny. And then what happened in the changing rooms... Zim's face turned another shade darker at THAT memory. Then there was just the other day, the voot cruiser lesson. When they both shared that wonderful view. Just the two of them watching the sun set behind a ocean worth of clouds...

With every memory, the warm feeling in his chest only increased.

Looking up at Dib's slightly embarrassed face, he was no longer the 'repulsive, stinky, Earth maggot' he once was in Zim's eyes, but instead, was... nice looking. More than that really... As a human would say... he was 'handsome' in some way... And smart too. Way more than other humans, that was for sure.

Zim had been really happy around Dib, even when they weren't doing anything. Just sitting around or just talking. He was always happy to just be with the human! All those thoughts combined into one only meant one thing really... He DID like the human... Even more so!

"Dib-friend...?" Zim mumbled, to get the other's attention. Once their eyes had met once again, he took a deep breath in, before speaking.

"Zim t-thinks he... l-loves y-you too..." He announced, smiling slightly, waiting for a reaction of some kind.


	41. Chapter 41

Yay! They love each other! Well, it'S ZaDr after all^^ So now it's time for fluff turning more into smexy stuff Grrrrr... :D

(Hooray for Dibs 'other side'^^).

Dib was stunned. With a slightly open mouth he stared down at Zim. He instinctively knew Zim loved him in some way. But hearing it from the Irken's mouth, directly said to him in this moment... it was too much. His head was spinning and he felt that burning heat eating him from the inside. His wet eyes began to water and soon, a single tear made its way down his cheek. Tears of joy. He was smiling so wide, it hurt but it was impossible for him to stop it.

"...Oh, Zim!" he mumbled, lunged forward to tightly wrap his arms around Zim and rolled them both over, so now the Irken was on top of him. Before he knew it, Dib laughed out loud, like when he got tickled.

Zim said he loved him!

Suddenly the boy was flooded with such strong happy feelings and love, he really was afraid to go unconscious any moment. So Dib only tightened his grip on Zim and looked up into those eyes he loved so much. If that wasn't already enough, because of his constant panting, Dib got the hiccups. Still, he tried to speak.

Laughing, crying and with hiccups...

"Z-Zim! -hick- n-nobody said... that to -hick- me b-before... I'm -hick- b-bursting and s-so... dizzy -hick- I n-never... felt so happy before and -hick- it feels... l-like I'm drowning in -hick- all t-these... good feelings." Quite a struggle to speak, yeah, but somehow he did it. "Z-Zim... hold m-me -hick- tight a-and...-"

Dib pressed his face into Zim's neck and trembled against his Irken. His body felt like goo around Zim's slightly cooler one.

"P-Please s-say it -hick- again, Zim... please!" Whimpering desperately, he began to bite and nibble against Zim's precious skin, but soothingly licked the small bruises afterwards, as some sort of apology.

"...W-Why are you s-so...-hick- amazing... Z-Zim? Y-You drive me -hick- c-crazy... you're m-mine to love... I -hick- l-love... my Z-Zimmy so much!"

Now that type of reaction was somehow both expected and non-expected at the same time. The wide smile on the other's face was a definite sign of Dib's happiness, yet the tears rolling down his cheeks every now and then represented sorrow, right? Yet, the laughter which accompanied them both was another sign in the direction of joy...

All mixed together, the human almost looked like a madman. A sad, yet smiling one... Like someone had got a knife and carved a fixed smile into his face... Only, that would be gruesome, and this one wasn't. No, quite the opposite, and Zim had caused it by a few simple, yet powerful, words... It was a good feeling to know that. And even more of a good feeling that they both felt the same way.

The Irken kept most of his happiness inside of him, but Dib seemed to let it all out, letting the world know about it... Well, just him really. But still, it was rather nice to hear the other's words. And funny due to the hiccups the other had picked up from his happy mood.

About to reply to the other's request, Zim had to stop at the contact of the human's teeth to his neck. Whining slightly at the back of his throat, his purr also increased in speed and volume.

"A-And I l-love you too h-human... Now s-stop talking until your hiccups are gone... You're going t-to make t-them worse..." He said, granting Dib's request of repeating his words. Zim's smile increased and he returned the hug, squeezing back just as tightly as Dib had.

Liking it very much how Zim reacted to the small bites and licks, Dib just continued. He shouldn't speak anyway, so he kept his mouth busy with other that instead. Breathing got harder due to the other's hug, but Dib wouldn't want to have it another way. That fact and especially hearing those wonderful words from Zim's mouth again... well, it only heated Dib's current state.

Suddenly he wanted the Irken's shirt off. Wanted to feel more of his Irken's soft, velvet-like skin rubbing against his own. He wanted... Zim! Nothing proved that more than his member, which was slowly standing at attention. Dib didn't care to hide it or something. He sneaked his trembling hands underneath Zim's shirt and firmly massaged his back, enjoying the slightly cooler sensation on his palms.

A small moan escaped him as he desperately grinded their hips together, wanting to make more friction, despite the stupid cloth being in the way.

Blushing even more from hearing the slight moan from Dib, all Zim could do was lie there, focusing on the heating up feeling which began through out his body. It seemed to happen most -if not all- times that this type of moment became present. Just them two, no-one else. It always felt somehow, unreal... Like it wasn't happening. Like it was just his imagination... well, if it was, that was some weird one. But no, it wasn't imagination of any kind. It was happening, and real.

The sensation of their hips meeting again, and rubbing together, made a tingling feeling become present, and a shiver to make an appearance for a second or two also. Being on top of Dib, it didn't take long to notice... 'things'.

Blush increasing intensely, Zim suddenly had half a mind to sit up, but the massaging hands on his back said otherwise. But still... he felt the need to say something, though it was pretty obvious that the other knew, since it was... well... his!

"D-Dib...?" Zim mumbled, no nicknames attached.

He hoped that, that would be enough to let the other know of his concerns... Since he REALLY didn't want to point it out in words... And last time it had... happened to Dib, the human seemed so embarrassed about it. So, he wondered why he wasn't embarrassed this time...

His blank name, without any suffix and said with a shaky, unsure voice... now that was something Dib couldn't ignore. So he stopped his work on the other's neck and looked at Zim's eyes, which were rather dark again... Ugh, that didn't really help to keep his mind focused. And Dib noticed something else... Oh boy, that scent, that sweet smell again!

'Now keep focused, Dib' he mentally ordered himself.

So, panting, he only asked: "Y-Yeah... Are y-you okay, Zi-"

Suddenly he knew what the Irken meant. Sure, he felt 'it' before, but didn't really... notice what it actually was. Just another good, heating feeling. His eyes widened in realization. But this time... this time, he got no intention to hide it.

'Friends don't do this...' Well, that slogan wasn't needed anymore. They loved each other! So, instead of breaking down about it again, Dib tried to explain what was going on 'down there'. But that didn't mean he wasn't quite embarrassed about it still. Just... not so much anymore. As a addition, he couldn't really get much redder than he already was.

"O-Oh, that! Umm... I-I really can't help -hick- myself, Z-Zim... That's a n-natural reaction of my body, a-as... I told -hick- you before. It's a very p-pleasent one a-and... you're the reason for it. I-It's a sign that I'm... well, I'm a-aroused... we humans call it a-aroused. In... umm... i-in a... well, a... -hick- s-s- -hick-... s-sexual way..."

Two big confessions in one day... and it wasn't even noon! Dib looked at Zim's lips instead of his eyes and his hands draped on the Irken's back. He really hoped he didn't scare his... his... Zim too much. But the boy only told the truth.

At the explanation, Zim's eyes widened slightly. Sure, he'd known the basics about this 'thing' Dib had before, but now... It only brought back the memory of the previous explanation and when the human had accidentally put his hand on- Well, yeah... And to be honest, he wasn't scared... just concerned for it embarrassing the other.

"Zim knows y-you can't help i-it Dib-frie-"

Wait, he couldn't really call the human 'Dib-friend' anymore...

"Hmm... Y-You need a new n-nickname..." Zim mumbled, more to himself than to Dib.

Yeah, also changing the subject away from... 'that', would probably be best. Even though the human wasn't panicking about it so much as he did last time, he could still sense some embarrassment forming from it.

But first... new nickname!

Well, 'Dib-human' was still an option, since it wasn't insulting like 'worm' or 'beast' was... And 'friend' was out, since... well... they weren't really, were they?

"So... What do people who l-love each other u-usually do and say? B-Because what I've s-seen at Skool and researched on my c-computer, it's basically l-like being 'special friends', correct? O-Only, more of t-that cuddling stuff... Is that right... Dib-pet?" He asked, being slightly cautious with the new name.

After all, what Zim had seen of human pets, they were shown affection, care and belonged to someone. And as far as he knew, Dib belonged to him! And after that performance on the roof, Dib made a pretty good dog, so also a pretty good pet. Resting his head back down on the human's chest, Zim kept looking at the other's face, and at the neon blush. Hopefully the changed subject would make it die down slightly.

What did die down as mostly the boy's hiccup, but nothing more at the moment. Dib said nothing and curiously mustered Zim's thoughtful face. To be honest, he wouldn't mind if Zim kept referring to him as 'Dib-friend', but now that the Irken mentioning needing a new nickname... well, some of them instantly popped up in Dib's mind.

The first one was just 'Dib-love'. Would sound pretty sweet. Or 'Dib-mate' since... well, they were kinda mates now, right? Even something like Diblet or Dibby came to his mind. But, maybe that sounded too funny. Especially Dibby... Heh. Hilarious. Anyhow, when Zim said 'Dib-pet', the boy immediately got reminded of the 'roof-scene' and his... doggy behaviour.

No wonder Zim got this, strangely sweet and affectionate, idea. It wasn't insulting for Dib, being a pet and Zim... kinda the owner. No. It was very nice.

"Umm... Dib-pet?... Really? W-Well, that sounds c-cute. I r-really like it..." Smirking smugly, he added: "But... you have to t-take care of your pet like f-feeding it, your petting to reward it, w-when the pet well behaves... A-Also playing a-and talking is important t-to keep m-me... I mean... your pet happy, heh."

Dib couldn't help it. They already do all this stuff, but it was fun to remind Zim of his 'duties'.

But Dib got more serious when he thought about Zim's request, what loving people 'do and say'. Well, the first thing he thought of was... sex. However, he quickly deleted this scenario out of his head. It was part of the doings yeah, but, maybe it got too far to consider it now.

"Well, p-people who l-love each other do the same t-things we already did... j-just more intense..." He replied elusive and wanted to change the subject by adding. "A-And ya' know... I-I already thought about some other nicknames f-for me. I-I like 'Dib-love' or 'Dib-m-mate'... since we're kinda m-mates now, r-right Zim? I d-don't really know; we l-love each other, yes, but... we didn't do well, 'that', so... umm... just chose the name you like, a-as long as YOU say them t-to me... I'm happy. Zimmy..."

Happy that the nickname wasn't thought of as weird, Zim happily listened to the 'duties' involved. Zim should have guessed that Dib would have turned the name into something resembling a tease.

"Yes, but that involves you behaving, you know? No running away. No 'business' inside-"

He began, counting them off with his fingers, but stopped at the funny look he received from the other.

"-W-Well since I-I didn't tell GIR that l-last one when he arrived I paid for it l-later... Ick..." He mumbled, pulling a slight disgusted face at the memory.

Yeah... GIR got a bit carried away with the whole 'Earth dog' thing, and saw a TV show about badly behaved dogs... And well... yeah. Lets just say it got messy. Especially on the floor. The computer wasn't too happy about having to clear it up either.

"Anyway... And that also m-means you need to s-stay loyal to Zim," he instructed, smiling slightly. He was sure he didn't have to remind Dib about that one, but still felt like his part of the teasing wouldn't be complete without it.

But that soon got forgotten, well at least for Zim, at hearing the other nickname suggestions.

"Hmm... Dib-love... Dib-mate... And Dib-pet... Heh, they a-all sound good," he said, testing them out. He always found it fun thinking up nicknames for others. Especially those he hated. But not this time, no, this time he was figuring out some for the one he... loved.

Still sounded weird to the Irken... Zim loving Dib. Dib loving Zim... Weird, but nice sounding too.

"And what do you mean you don't know...? Is Zim not your m-m...mate?"

Yep... that sounded odd too.

"You said t-that if two people liked each o-other, they became m-mates... correct?" He asked, pulling a confused frown.

"O-Okay, so now I'm officially your pet, Zimmy... Hmm, I really l-like that. And d-don't worry... I got no reason to run a-away, since... I wanna be always close to you a-and... I promise I w-will behave... heh, well, most of the time." Dib smiled evily up at his mate, pinched his side, before tickling it for just a second.

"...S-Sometimes your Dib-pet can get... well, defiant ya' know." Getting more serious he turned to rub Zim's sides again. "B-But of course I will always l-loyal to my mate... because that's what you are, Zimmy. I-I... was just thinking, s-since m-mates are sometimes... well, ahem... m-mating. Or s-sex, as human call it." Dib mumbled

"B-B-But, Zim.. I d-don't wanna push a-anything, really!" Now that he spoke about all that stuff, about mates and pets and such... Dib couldn't ignore Zim's scent any longer. That sweet, sweet smell the Irken was radiating again, along with the dark eyes which mesmerized him more and more... well, let's just say Dib gets affected by Zim in the most intimate ways in that moment. Letting all of Zim wash over his mind, Dib used one hand to gently rub over Zim's cheek, mumbling.

"...I just l-love my mate s-so much... So now i-it's right to l-like your smell and the sweet taste y-your giving off, yes? S-Since before we were... Friends, but now..." Leaving the sentence unfinished, Dib leaned forward and kissed his beloved Irken mate: Soft and gently this time, but not less passionate.

Before, Zim's blush had almost completely gone, but at the explanation of why Dib had his slight doubts about them being mates, it soon returned. "O-Oh..." Zim mumbled, face turning neon green once again. When ever he had thought of the word 'mates', THAT thought had never crossed his mind... He didn't know much about 'it', just that it was forbidden -of course- in the empire... Oh well. So was kissing, cuddling, antennae touching, affection, care, emotions, friendship, mates, even love...

When both their lips met once again, Zim let those thoughts go and instead focused on the warm feeling radiating in his chest from the gentle motion. He preferred these types of kisses. Predicted and caring... It was almost... sweet. A calm one. To show affection to the other. So, pushing back against the human's lips, the Irken couldn't help but smile.

Lifting up a hand, brought it up to Dib's hand which was on his cheek, and grabbed it so their fingers interlocked once again. He remembered how this was the first thing they did together which wasn't harmful or insulting... Simple hand-holding... Heh, it was almost like a mini hug which their hands could share together. Well, at least in Zim's mind... Maybe a little too weird to say out loud, but that wasn't needed anyhow.

Leaning back, -unfortunately breaking the kiss- Zim took his free hand and placed it on the human's stomach and began to rub, much like yesterday. "Heh, see? What a good Dib-pet," he said, chuckling slightly.

Peeking an eye open, when Dib felt his hand grabbed, he looked at them, absently counting the fingers... Yeah, of course. There was still the hand-holding. Such a nice and simple gesture. Dib almost forgot about it, since they recently did so much 'more-intense' stuff... Still, sometimes it don't have to be that much. Heh, but more is always better, in Dib's mind. Weird.

It all began with that one single movement. His human hand in Zim's Irken one. Green and pale peach, maybe even white. Five and three. Mustering their hands, neatly pressed against Zim's cheek, Dib wondered how different they were on the first view. Not even the hands... Opposite. Incompatible. Two different worlds. But still... coincidence, or maybe fate has brought them together.

Such a long time they were bounded in hate, but now... Well, now it was... love... Love! Dib got interrupted in his musings by the sudden non-contact of their lips. But before he could even pout, he felt something soft and cool crawling around on his belly.

"H-Hey, it tickles!" The boy giggled, but didn't complain. "W-Well, I AM a good pet... and I know what my Zimmy likes." With that, he bent forward a bit and began to lick and suck the Irken's neck, like it was a delicious dog-treat. With his other hand, he kinda pinned his mate down to his chest. No way, he let the Irken escape without a 'fight'.

Dib's giggles caused Zim's smile to only grow. Yet at the words which followed the human's few laughs caused a confused face to replace that smile. "What are you talking abou-" The sudden contact of Dib's mouth on his neck caused a silent gasp to escape the Irken and his eyes to fall half-lidded. The sparks which shot down his spine soon returned as well as a few tingles.

"Oi! S-Stop that..." He commanded, but instead of a commanding voice, ended up more of a whisper, followed by another whine at the back of his throat. Also his pinned down state wasn't helping the matter. Not one bit. At an attempt at gaining 'freedom', started kicking his legs around, but that only resulted in their hips rubbing together again, so instantly stopped. Zim didn't mind really, but he didn't want Dib to think that he had 'won'. That he had power in these moments.

So, thinking through the past few days, tried to recall any moments which could offer some type of advantage in his favour. After a few moments of mentally searching, found one. Removing his hand from Dib's stomach, trailed it up to pinky-coloured things on the human's chest... Couldn't quite recall what they were named, but sure as heck remembered one thing... That they were sensitive... He remembered that from when trying to explain what it felt like to have his antennae messed with.

'Payback...' He mentally thought, smirking slightly. So, once he had hold of one, gently began to twist it.

"A-And Zim r-remembers w-what Dib-pet liked... Heh." He whispered into the human's ear.

Busy with absorbing as much taste as he could, Dib didn't really expect any struggles, since he was in charge with his mouth and stuff. Zim's futile attempt to make him stop was only fuelling his work. However, when Dib felt Zim's hip rubbing against his own, he slowed down his tongue... but suddenly the boy felt three icy finger on his nipple and that instantly stopped him.

Gasping at the unexpected contact his head fell back into the cushions. With wide eyes he watched Zim, bending down to his ear to whisper something... His mind got foggy and his eyes half-lidded.

"...Z-Z...Ziiimmm..." Dib unconsciously moaned out his mates name and grabbed his shoulders for support.

"I-I never... should have showed that weak s-spot of m-mine..." He forced out, half joking of course. Since, on the contrary, he was glad he did. And it was only fair to know each other's bodies... Dib mustered the Irken's smug expression, while trying to swat away Zim's messing hand with his own one. He didn't want Zim to stop, but at least wanted to show some sort of 'fight-back'.

"Heh, well you did, so too bad for you, human," Zim said, still smirking slightly and giggling silently at Dib's brain-dead expression.

The way the other had moaned out his name like that caused a shudder to make an entrance for a brief moment before leaving until the next time. It felt good to be in control of the moment for once, and the way he was on top of the other only boosted that feeling.

"You know, y-you look like one of those z-zombies from the game you brought round," he said, smirk only increasing. Thinking of which... That console-thingy was still plugged into the TV in 'their' room back at the base. Hmm... He'd have to fetch that and give it back to Dib. Well, that is if he wasn't still staying at the base... Zim would have to ask later if they were both returning, or if Dib was staying here...

"Zim's guessing that Dib-love likes this then?" He asked, already knowing the answer, but it was an excuse to test out the new nickname too.

"I-I'm n-not a ...zombie!" Dib tried to sound indignant. But all what came out was a high pitched, slurred voice. He didn't know he could sound like that... or even moan out Zim's name like he did just now...! "And y-yes... your p-pet is... pleased."

Dib strangely liked how that sounded. Still, in another try to gain control back, the boy finally snatched the other's hand away to free his poor hardened nipple and quickly caught a single finger with his teeth, lightly biting on it.

Smirking to himself, Dib growled at Zim and squirmed around beneath Zim, trying to roll them over, so he would be on top again.

The sound of Dib's voice at the moment was too much, and soon the giggles turned into full out laughter. But Zim quickly bit on his bottom lip to stop the noise. After all, he did know that he himself had spoken like that in moments like this. Brain out of order and looking like something someone just ran over with a car... goofy, was the word to explain it really.

"I can tell, strangely enough," Zim said, returning to giggles. But that stopped at the sudden squirming around caused by Dib.

Going to put his hands down to regain balance, Zim found that one hand was still connected to the human's one, and the other was getting bitten on. Eyes widening, Zim used the last free things he had. Wrapping his legs around Dib's pair, he spoke. "H-Hey... S-Stop moving human... O-Or I'll fall o-off..." He mumbled. But hearing the growl from the other, and seeing the smirk, Zim instantly knew that was the plan.

Luckily the both lay in the middle of the bed. So there was enough space to roll around without falling to the floor. But Zim's trapping legs were making it quite difficult to move.

It really was a sight for the gods: A small, green bug-like alien on top on a shirtless, pale human, who growled while biting on one of the Irken's fingers. Tightly connected with their legs, the (seemingly) unlikely couple swung to the left and right side in Dib's attempt to get on top... All the while, Dib tried to ignore the friction he caused by all his playful struggling...

In the end, they both rolled on the side, so Dib stopped his movements and instead blankly looked at Zim, panting. He blushed as he noticed, he still got a finger in his mouth. Carefully removing it, while his other hand still grasped the Irken's one.

"W-Well... at least you're no longer on top... for now, heheh." Dib teased, but soon got rigid when he saw down his pants... Oh boy. 'I shouldn't have squirmed so much...' He mentally whined. Obviously, his body saw otherwise.

Well, one thing was certain, Zim was disappointed and slightly annoyed at Dib's successful plan to remove his title of being 'on top'... But, at least the other didn't technically fully win either! It was almost like... like a draw? No-one had won, nor lost. Trust them to cause a competition from their relationship.

Pet versus owner. Human versus Irken. Dib versus Zim...

Maybe not in the way they both expected it to work out after the years they spent as enemies.

Zim went to cross his arms, but found he couldn't since their hands were still interlocked, so settled with a ever so slight glare instead. "And you h-had to do that why exactly?" He asked, finding the moment slightly funny, even though he had just lost the control he so wanted during these moments. Since through out the moments they had spent together, Dib had always seemed to be the one 'in control'... annoyingly.

"Y-You know, a pet is m-meant to obey its owner... And you, Dib-pet, did not..." He added, smirking slightly at reminding the other of his 'pet' title.

Now it was obvious how much Zim liked to have Dib as his pet and to lie on top of the boy, so he could do 'stuff' with the human as he pleased. No way was Dib letting that happen without at least some 'resistance'. But for now... Zim was right.

Grinning back the same way, Dib countered "Heh, apparently I'm quite a frisky pet... I guess I would be kinda boring without a little struggle... a-and don't look at me like that, Zimmy. As I said before, s-sometimes I'm hard to deal with."

The thing was, when Dib said that the first time, it was meant more negative, regarding his crying and breakdown in the past days. But now... yeah, now it seemed to have another meaning. However, ever so slightly, Dib shuffled closer to Zim, preparing for a final attack to climb on top of his Irken.

"Zim may look at the human anyway he wishes," Zim stated, but still changed his smirk to a rather expressionless face, yet a small smile still remained.

Dib was correct though, it would be slightly boring. But still, he found it unfair how he'd only got a momentary moment of being in control and the other had, had so many in previous cuddle moments... Hmm... Maybe he had to create the moment first? Since it was usually Dib that had created them, and always seemed to have the upper hand...

'Ugh... humans," Zim mentally whined, as he usually did when annoyed or confused.

"Well, badly behaved pets usually get disciplined... Correct?" He mumbled, of course joking, but not feeling like letting this subject go just yet.

"Discipline... m-me?" Dib stuttered and unconsciously moved away from Zim a bit.

"Umm... sure, t-that would help to get it... o-obedient, but-" Wait! Why was he telling this Zim in the first place. Maybe the Irken would take it the wrong way... Still, Dib couldn't help but being at least a little bit curious what the Irken got in mind.

"A-And stop that look, Zim. I know that evil smirk all t-too well." But that didn't prevent the chuckle escaping him. Now Dib was really curious about what will happen. Somehow... he liked that side of Zim. Possessive and dominant... well, more a wannabe one, since Dib wouldn't allow that so easy...

At hearing the almost agreeing words from Dib, Zim was slightly shocked. He had just expected that to be enough, to sort of... threaten, really. Well great... now he had to think of some discipline strategies.

Hitting was the obvious one... But no way was he doing that! Not to Dib... What others were there... Ignoring was another! But then again... he wasn't sure if he could ignore the other... and didn't really want to either. Another was time out, but it wouldn't exactly be easy to just move the human to where ever he wished.

Ugh... All the others he could think of just didn't feel right.

"Yes, discipline! Horrible t-things, human... Horrible! Discipline techniques that e-even you couldn't think of. Things which would... uh... Scar even the m-most evil humans!" He said in fake confidence. "S-So... Uhh... Y-You going to b-behave yet?" He asked, hope in his voice. Zim just hoped that Dib wouldn't ask what type of 'horrible things', since even he didn't know...

Hmm, maybe Zim was just bluffing after all... Dib surely didn't want to make the other trying to do 'horrible things' to him.

"O-Okay... I prefer nice and touchy things anyway." The boy replied, like that wasn't obvious. "And I... r-really don't wanna know what you h-had in mind, Zimmy." Maybe nothing, maybe something... oh well. Hearing Zim's question in that almost pleading tone... the boy couldn't resist!

Face flaring up, he crawled closer to his Irken... owner, and lifted his free arm. "B-But you have to... ya' know, r-reward your Dib f-for good behaviour." He remembered something... which worked quite nicely before. So, Dib made puppy-eyes and made a tiny small whine like a needy little doggy.

"Well you haven't done any good behaviour, have yo-" Zim began, but stopped at seeing Dib's puppy-pout face. It didn't help how the blush was present on the human's face either, nor how his glasses were on the floor, along with Zim's contacts and wig, allowing more view of the human's eyes...

The Irken still didn't know how this type of face that the other pulled seemed to make him give Dib what he wanted... Maybe it was because it was just plain... cute... Huge eyes, like in one of those Japanese animated shows GIR watched once. And how the sun was pouring in through the window, reflecting off them, didn't help. They looked like two honey coloured diamonds...

"Ugh! Fine! Fine, just stop that..." Leaning towards Dib, Zim let their lips meet once again, whilst looking into the other's eyes, as if saying: 'happy now?'

'Yay!' The boy mentally cheered and eagerly kissed back. Come to think of it, even Dib guessed it wasn't really fair to use that face, as he knew well how Zim wasn't able to resist it...

After his eyes said 'yeah!' Dib closed his eyes in pleasure and unconsciously rolled onto his back, leaning into the pillow beneath him. The sun-warmed blanket and the faint scent of his mate only made the moment more... delightful.

After some more seconds, he whimpered into the kiss, sensing a slight change in Zim's position. So, he just let the Irken's serpent tongue play with his own flat one, just happy about all the attention he received.

Seeing his chance as Dib lay back, Zim slowly moved closer, until he was lying on top of the human once again. Smirking slightly into the kiss, Zim lifted up his free hand and messed with the other's hair once again, being very happy with the current position.

To be honest, he didn't think Dib really cared at the moment, since he seemed quite content with the kiss they were sharing. So, deciding to 'reward' his pet even more, wrapped his tongue around the human's one quite tightly.

It was only then that he realized that he had, technically, started this moment, and was, in fact, in control! Heh, he'd have to do this more often, instead of waiting for Dib to do something.

Now, with his tongue being owned and the Irken on top of him, Dib practically melted underneath Zim and held onto the other's hand for dear life. Since when was Zim such an... eager kisser? Not that Dib complained! But apparently Zim liked to be in charge. Very much in Dib's favour... A shudder shook his whole body at the feel of Zim's claws slowly running through his hair, lightly scratching and massaging at the same time... His mouth was fully annexed by Zim and that strange flavour of his Irken saliva somehow suppressed any 'tongue-resistance'.

But what excited Dib the most was the other's scent... he noticed as it gradually got stronger and therefore affected him more and more. Dib wanted to say the Irken's name, but since he obviously couldn't, just a tiny, muffled moan was heard. He didn't know what to do with his free hand, so it tightly gripped the sheets.

It was a totally new experience for Zim, being in power in these situations! And it felt amazing! No wonder Dib didn't want him to be on top, since it felt so... odd, but good! It was like being able to over power the other in a battle. But this battle was different from their previous ones whilst they were still enemies. Those were fights caused by hatred. But this, heh, nope. This was a fight of affection.

At feeling the shudder from Dib, Zim opened his eyes slightly to look down at the other. The human's eyes were closed, almost scrunched up... And at hearing the small moan, a new feeling rushed through him. A feeling of dominance... It felt... weird. Like he wanted to do much more... With the human. It was almost... scary, how strong this feeling was. Maybe this feeling was what had been causing all those Dib-break-downs before? A feeling of... wanting... But not having an idea of what to do... Yeah, maybe Dib felt like this!

Leaning back from the kiss, Zim panted for a moment, regaining his breath, before speaking. "Dib-pet... Zim feels w-weird..." He mumbled, blushing slightly. "I-Is this how you f-felt before...? W-When you kept... having emotional m-moments?"

When Zim broke the kiss, Dib let out a small whine, but kept his eyes closed, as the waves of good feelings rushed through him, until they slowly faded away. Only now, he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and lazily opened his eyes... which widened in shock at seeing the Irken's eyes. They were practically black! On closer inspection, it was their usual maroon colour, but now... sooo much more darker. Wow... And they still got that lustre, that glistening which made them so beautiful. Two big sparkling coals on a neon-green surface...

"...Zim, y-you're eyes... they..." He whispered in awe, but suddenly remembered the Irken's request. He still knew very well how he felt in such moments; yesterday's on the couch being the best example... And this time, Zim was the one who felt that way... ZIM!

Dib smiled reassuringly at his mate and used his unemployed hand to rub Zim's cheek. Heh, his face felt quite hot. So green...

"Y-Yeah... weird is t-the best word to d-describe it, since... it's so foreign. Right, now... a w-wave of... something is r-rushing through your body. But... it f-feels nice, right?"

Dib was sure it was the same feeling, since their roles interchanged... and he enjoyed that eager side of Zim. But he definitively didn't want Zim to have a break-down, like he had, crying and such...

"Z-Zim... if you f-feel uncomfortable... w-with that feeling... w-we could stop, i-if you want." Though it was obvious by the tone of Dib voice at the end, that he didn't want that to happen, Zim's well-being was the most important thing the boy could think of.

"N-No... I'm not u-uncomfortable... It's just... weird... y-yeah. Y-Yet... As you say... n-nice... But... new, also..." Zim mumbled, whilst leaning more into Dib's hand which was on his face, enjoying the slight coolness from it; since his face felt so warm at the moment.

"B-Besides... It sounds l-like Dib-pet doesn't want t-to stop either..." He added, smirking down at the other. From the way Dib had whined when they both parted, and the almost grudging suggestion of stopping. Heh, neither of them wanted to stop, and they both knew it.

"Anyway... this is my pet's reward... Remember?" Zim asked, in a voice which actually almost scared himself... It was lower than usual, and sounded almost demanding... It sounded so unnatural coming from his mouth... Yet it did!

Shrugging it off, Zim leant forward, but instead of reconnecting their lips, instead copied Dib's earlier action, and began licking at the other's neck. He personally really liked this action, so guessed that the human's reaction to it wouldn't be that much different from his own.

Dib was super relieved to hear that the Irken got no intention to stop their 'moment' any time soon. And it seemed like he also made it clear he didn't want to either. Of course, for Dib it was new to see Zim like this too. In such a state of... want. He really could get used to it, being Zim's pet... Surely it was his mates new dominating role, which fuelled this 'weird, new feeling' inside the Irken. Nothing made that fact more clear than Zim's next few words.

The boy never heard him speak like this! So... so soft and... deep, with a seducing undertone... Zim could speak in that way? Wow. It affected him as much as his purring, but this time differently, since now the Irken was on top, so it almost sounded like an order. Like Zim wanted to give him a special present. The boy shuddered from just hearing Zim's voice that way...

The purring somehow was the opposite, since Zim did it mostly when he got caressed by Dib. But it could occur any time Zim was happy. Dib wanted to reply something, but couldn't because Zim's tongue already worked on his neck. A sudden gasp escaped Dib and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Nyah!... Z-Z- … -im, you..." The rest of the sentence was replaced by a extended low moan. His whole body tensed in shock and his two hands aimlessly roamed on Zim's back. Dib's pulse sped up when he felt that long and wet alien snake wandered around on his sensitive neck in slow, tasting licks...

Unconsciously, Dib titled his head to give his mate more access to that vulnerable part on his pale body. Soon he relaxed under Zim and closed his eyes in pure delight as a buzzing tingle crawled all over his skin.

Happy at noticing how Dib complied to the motion, by tilting his head, Zim smirked into the human's neck and continued the treatment. It was slightly weird when he stopped to think about what he was actually doing... Licking the other's neck in an affectionate manner... even more really. And claiming him as his pet... his human!

Yet, the moan which Zim soon heard from Dib's mouth quickly boosted his confidence, as well as his ego... Maybe not in the way he originally thought it would. The Irken thought that he'd regain his ego from beating Dib in a contest, or proving he could be better. The bike lesson for example, but that only ended up as another failure. But, this was slightly like a competition, wasn't it? A slightly odd one, but still... Almost like a contest to be on top, to make the other make those... noises. By the looks of things, Zim had won.

Lifting his head for a brief moment, looked down at Dib's closed eyes, and how he was shuddering every now and then.

Yep, Zim had most surely won. Smirk leaving, and being replaced with a soft smile, he leaned forward again so their lips met.

Suddenly a memory from the other day popped back into the Irken's mind... When they were at that restaurant-thingy, and he had began to claw at the table. And the daydream Dib had mentioned after, about his claws on his chest... Heh, maybe it was time to bring thoughts to reality?

Leaning back completely, so he was sitting on the human's lower torso, brought his hands so they were on the other's chest. After a moment or so of adjusting his fingers so it wouldn't hurt the other, slowly dragged both his hands down, very lightly digging his claws in.

When the other's tongue left his neck, Dib just lay there and waited for the waves of pleasure to ebb away and to hear Zim speak. But the licking barely stopped, when Dib felt a light kiss on his lips, which prevent the good feelings from leaving Dib's body. It just fuelled it all the more.

Before he could kiss back, Zim's mouth left his own and he Dib felt a change of weight on top of him. Almost scared, that Zim was about to get off of him, he quickly opened his eyes, which looked as fogged up as his mind was. Looking up at Zim with and saw a distinctive smug smile of that green face... a totally new expression for Dib. As he waited for something to happen, to be said, but no, the Irken never left his side.

Instead he lowered down his claws and... He jerked at the sudden skin to skin contact and immediately closed his eyes again, since his lids got so heavy again. Zim was... he... massaged his chest, his sides, with some pressure... just like in the dream! Yeah, it was the same feeling the boy got, but a dozen time better. More intense... This time it was real. Dib didn't even have to open his eyes, since in his mind, he saw the Irken, sitting on his stomach and... doing this to him! Even at the same place, in his bed... But it felt sooo much better. He practically melted beneath Zim, his... owner, as he slowly moved his claws up and down his body.

The tips of them very lightly scratched his skin, but not enough to hurt, quite the opposite. That pressure along with the just slightly cooler feeling of Zim's hands... it was a wonderful reward. Apparently, Zim made a pretty good owner.

After a minute or so, Dib finally managed to form some words. "...Oh Z-Zimm!...That f-feels so... n-nice, like I'm t-turning into jelly... I-I'm glad you... r-remembered that... dream..." Dib always thought that day-dream was too weird and guessed Zim had just shrugged it off. Well, obviously he didn't... Dib's hands, formerly on Zim's back, now rested on Zim's legs and made a similar massaging motion out of instinct.

"D-Don't stop... m-my mate..." The boy whispered and opened his eyes just a crack while smiling from one end to the other, like he was drunk. In some way he was indeed...

That was the type of reaction that Zim was hoping for. But, it was still quite a shock to actually hear that. Just from this one simple motion...

'Heh... Cool,' Zim couldn't help but think.

He'd always thought that his claws would only bring pain to any person which came into contact with them, and that was true in some cases, but this time, they made Dib seem like his brain was slowly shutting down. It was quite funny to watch, but also hearing those words, including his name, being spoken out like that... Well, it only caused this 'feeling' to increase.

Returning the smile, Zim made one long motion, with his claws on one hand, from the human's collar bone, down to where he was sitting, moving the hand very slowly. Watching as the white lines turned to a slight pinky colour, the Irken scanned the rest of Dib's torso, all the scars and marks from the past abuse he'd received, not only from him. From the kids at Skool too.

Thinking of which... Looking to the other's chest, the wound from the operation had almost fully healed... Just a slight red-ish mark, the remains of that day. Oh how that stupid Torque creature would pay! What was his reason to even do that to Dib? ...Well, he was just a miserable human all together... he didn't HAVE a reason to hit people... Ugh. But they'd have revenge... That was for sure!

Shaking his head, Zim looked down, and from his anger, had been digging his claws in slightly deeper in the other's flesh. Instantly stopping, Zim pulled his hands back. Well... nothing seemed to be harmed physically. No blood or such. But still, he felt bad. Returning his hands back to the human's front, softly rubbed the marks which he had made, as if to apologize.

"Heh... S-Sorry..."

Dib really enjoyed every second of Zim's claws on his skin. Who knew that the Irken's hands could make such a gently, yet firm motion? Well, Dib was the only one. Somehow, he felt marked by Zim in a physical way. Yeah, it was strange, but he hoped that some scratches would stay permanently on his skin. Would be the first ones which weren't created with pain included... well, no unwanted pain, since it would hurt too, but... that was kinda different. And the thought of having scratches all over his torso, made by Zim, markings from his mate... it caused a light shudder again and also some kind of... desire.

Maybe it was too weird of a request, but Dib didn't really control his mouth in that moment. These thoughts seemed to be approved by the sudden pressure on his chest. Dib flinched, since it hurt a bit, but in fact... it didn't feel bad, knowing Zim did it. With his claws.

At hearing the other's apology, Dib looked up at Zim and grabbed his rubbing hands. "It's okay... it felt n-nice." And with every scratch and rub, this desire only grew, so Dib pressed the Irken's claws a bit more into his skin and grinned up at his mate, showing how much he liked that.

Then, with one hand behind Zim's head, he slowly pressed it to himself while was leaning forward. Until his mouth was near one of the Irken's antennas. Suddenly feeling even hotter at being so close to Zim's face, Dib whispered in a shaky voice: "...Z-Zimmy... m-mark me... as y-your pet! I'm... I'm all yours..."

Dib already felt so 'rewarded' by Zim. But somehow he got the need to prove how loyal he was to his Irken. Also, all those scars, which were connected with bad memories of being bullied and beaten up would be replaced with pretty marks, made by his beloved Irken's hands.

"N-Nice?" Zim repeated, now confused on how Dib felt... In his experience, pain was thought of as bad... Something most people tried to avoid at any cost. Yet, here we was, being TOLD to cause someone... his mate... pain? To, as the other called it, mark him? Well... that was a slightly odd request, but also somehow understandable. There was different types of pain after all.

Accidental pain, which was caused by injuries or accidents.

Forced pain, which had been forced upon a person, usually through war, battles, fights or torture...

And the weirdest one, enjoyable pain... Pain which causes a person delight, or removes stress from themselves.

Zim had always found that last one slightly confusing, and even a little bit disturbing. Yet... The way Dib had asked, in such a way it almost sounded solemn. Nearly begging even! It... It was something... something he couldn't really refuse. "B-But... I-I don't w-want to cause y-you any p-pain!" He stuttered, before looking looking at the grin on the other's face.

Zim's antennae twitched slightly from the warm breath which had escaped the human's mouth whilst talking, so moved his head so their lips weren't so far away from each other.

"Sorry..." He mumbled in advance, before moving forward so their lips met once again. Placing a hand carefully on Dib's side, lightly dug his claws in, before dragging it down. With his other hand, placed it on the other's chest, and this time pressed down quite firmly. Not enough to split the skin, but anymore so and it would draw blood.

Keeping that in mind, slowly moved that hand down too, being extremely careful. All the while looking into Dib's eyes, checking for any signs of pain. And if so, would stop instantly!

Dib knew it was a delicate request to ask for Zim to do and he really didn't want to force him into something, but... he felt like it was a good way to show Zim his affection and loyalty. He belonged to Zim, so it was kinda natural to being reminded to that by just looking at the lines and scratches on his body. Not that Dib really needed a reminder, but it was a sign of their bond.

A physical one. Heh, Irken property- no... Zim property! It never felt so good to think that. All these Zim-related thoughts raced through his head, while the Irken marked him.

When Dib flinched one time, Zim stopped his claws, but Dib just placed his hands on Zim's and pressed them down again, as if to say 'it's okay, please, go on'. It wasn't as painful as the boy expected, maybe because his mind was busy with the sensation of Zim's tongue, who seemingly wanted to apology by tightly hugging his own tongue. For each millimetre Zim's claws scratched on Dib's skin. Well, it worked nicely.

But what absorbed him most were the Irken's almost black eyes, who constantly mustered his amber ones... Being so near them for quite a quite was... purely mesmerizing. Dib really, really hoped that Zim wouldn't regret this or feeling guilty about it. Or... even thinking he'd marred Dib's body! No way. The boy wanted to make him proud and to look better in Zim's eyes.

It was an extremely odd experience... that was for sure. Showing Dib affection by their shared kiss, but also harm by the 'marking' of the other. It felt wrong, but then somehow right too. Wrong since, at the flinch from the other, Zim instantly wanted to stop, but Dib didn't allow it... But then right also, since... he didn't know why, but it almost felt... natural? After all these years of fighting and such, it felt weird to just... stop. Stop harming. Since, nothing stops immediately. But still...

His right mind was saying to stop, but at the same time, his PAK... The empire... Was screaming to carry on. To 'mark' until... until...-

Removing one hand, he gave the machine a slight hit. No way was he obeying that thing ever again. If it didn't keep him alive, he would remove it. But for obvious reasons, he couldn't. But then again, his PAK controlled HIM. Annoyingly...

The hand which had bumped it, returned to Dib's chest, right above where his heart was. Zim knew this from so many times listening to the soothing sound it produced. The Irken's hand was shaking slightly as he dug one finger into the skin. Gently to begin with, but soon, the shaking caused the scratch to go wrong... Even if it was just slightly.

Soon, a liquid met Zim's finger. Breaking the kiss, he immediately looked down, and saw what he had done. He had carved a cross shape, small admittedly, but there was a few drops of blood leaking out. Zim's eyes widened and literally jumped off Dib, onto the bed beside him. Looking down at his hand, then back up to Dib's chest, the same red liquid was on both. Even if it was only a small amount, it was still enough!

"I...I...- Human? I-I'm sorry! Z-Zim didn't mean t-to... I didn't...-"

When one working hand left his chest, Dib wanted to bring it back, but soon he felt the tip of a single claw pressing down on his chest... more and more actually, until he felt a sharp ping of pain and hissed. But just for a millisecond, then just a slight burning where his heart was placed. Concerned, he opened his eyes and was instantly hit by Zim's shocked expression. Before he could do anything, the Irken almost panickly jerked away, sitting on the sheets beside him and trembling a bit.

And what was he talking about? Looking down at his chest he just saw a tiny red dot- hmm, no. It wasn't just that. More of a... cross. A little red cross, neatly carved into his skin. By Zim. The boy curiously touched the wound with two fingers. No, it didn't really hurt. Nothing serious. Slowly he wiped some blood and looked at his red fingertips, then back to Zim, who looked almost... terrified. So that was the reason for the Irken's reaction?

Slowly, he crawled up to Zim and snatched a certain hand and carefully pressed it to his chest, so the finger with the bloody tip was laid on the little cross. Right above his heart... neat.

"Please, Zim... d-don't be sorry. See, I-I asked you for... m-marking me, and y-you did! It don't even hurt. And now... I got s-something, w-which is carved into my skin b-by your hands. A-And I-I don't mind... if that's a permanent one. Really, Zim. I l-like it. It f-feels weird, but heh, e-everything between us feels somehow... weird. Feelings and such..."

Making sure the hand stayed where it was, on his chest, Dib leaned forward, past Zim's lips. His mouth near one antenna yet again, he whispered seductively: "...y-your pet l-loves his Zimmy..." Before he flicked the tip with his tongue a few times.

Watching Dib inspect his newly received wound, Zim felt nothing but guilt now... No more of that dominant feeling. And his built up ego was burning by the second, in the flames of regret, until it was nothing but ash in a dying warm light.

Noticing the other moving closer, Zim expected the worst. For the other to say negative words... About how much it hurt... That he hadn't meant mark like that. At the grabbing of his hand, the one with the blood on, that really made the Irken nervous. For some kind of negative response. Yet, no such thing became present.

Having shut his eyes when he first noticed the human moving closer, instantly opened them again at feeling Dib's chest under his touch again. But it wasn't only that... it was the mini cross wound. Zim listened to Dib's reassuring words, mouth open slightly from shock.

The other... liked it?

Looking down at the mark, it was only then he noticed how tidy it was... almost planned. Yet, it wasn't! He would never plan to cause the human to bleed. But it looked so neat, straight lines and quite small too. Having been so focused on the small mark, Zim failed to notice how close the other had gotten until he heard the whisper...

A quite strong shudder shook his body at the tone Dib had used, and his antenna being flicked like that.

"A-And... Z-Zim l-loves you too, D-Dib-love..." He mumbled, smiling slightly. Zim guessed that he was forgiven, so relaxed greatly.

Hmm, regarding the tone the Irken was using, Dib was gladly surprised how much he affected Zim with that small gesture. And that name... Dib-love! It sounded so nice when Zim said it. Dib-love... His heart felt like it would jump out of his chest any moment, beating like crazy. Zim did so much for him, especially this morning, in the past minutes... So it was time to repay some affection.

The slight sizzling on Dib's tongue along with a certain taste almost drove him nuts... And the antenna, who appealingly twitched in the air right before his eyes... Oh yeah!

"Heh, m-my turn..." The boy announced smugly and carefully caught the tip of Zim's antenna with his mouth. His lips kept it in place, while Dib used his tongue to eagerly stroke over the tip, feeling its feathery-like surface and especially... that sweet, sweet taste he couldn't get enough of. And now it felt even better to do this, since Zim explained how that flavour occurred.

Yeah... obviously, they were more than compatible and in the end he and Zim indeed became... mates. Zim was just perfect! He said such nice words, gave off that scent... and tasted so incredible delicious. All the while, Dib massaged the other's legs again and eventually sat on his lap. He couldn't keep his eyes open, too much 'Zim' was turning the boy into goo.

Finger still on the small cross, Zim traced the lines carefully. The blood had stopped flowing and was slowly drying. Thankfully. He still felt slightly bad for doing that to Dib... If he liked it or not, it still felt wrong. Making his... mate bleed. Even if it was just a bit. And over such a delicate organ.

It was almost creepy how it was right there... Over the heart. The mark wasn't very deep, nor big, but it was enough to be noticeable. Yet, somehow it almost... blended in with the rest of the marks which Dib had received over the years. But all those other ones had faded, and were barely recognizable anyway, due to the human's already pale skin.

Zim sighed slightly, before returning his hand back into his lap. It was just after he had done that which he heard the other speak. Looking away from the mark, up to Dib's face, he saw a ever so slight smug smile present. "Wha-"

Suddenly his antenna was trapped inside the human's mouth. And it was the most sensitive part too... Eyes instantly going wide, Zim made another whining noise at the back of his throat, as another noise became present. The oh so familiar purr. He guessed that this was Dib's 'payback' in some way... So didn't complain.

Plus, he rather enjoyed the shots of electricity going down his spin every now and then.

The shirtless human boy only grinned at hearing Zim's purring... Still sounded somehow like big alien cat. Weird, since Did had acted like a dog and the Irken like a cat, in this moment for example. Yeah, Dib liked that roles.

Zim as the mostly dominant, purring cat with sharp claws and at the other side Dib as the frisky and mostly meekly dog. Heh, and he was the pet after all. While he thought about this amusing concept, Dib's tongue only slapped faster around the sweet tip, absorbing as much taste as possible. But Dib knew very well HOW sensitive this small part of the feeler actually was. So after a last lick, he kinda reluctantly let go of it and gently stroked over the whole length, before he leaned back to look at his mate.

Well, seemed like the boy did a good job, since Zim's black eyes were half-lidded and a loose, goofy smile was seen on his green face. Let alone the rather loud purring, which Dib liked the most. It got a bit weaker, but didn't fully vanish. It echoed inside Dib's head and drew him closer to the Irken, until Dib was hugging him, whispering: "Ya' know... y-you ARE a cat right now, c-clawing and purring and such...hehe..."


	42. Chapter 42

**Yay, first 'mature' content :D So from now on the story will be rated M I guess...**

**Enjoooooy;)**

**Btw: I just looked at the viewing sstats and saw that there're even some people from Germany reading this story. That's so cool. If any german compatriot reads this, feel free to send me a message. I really would be glad for that. (natürlich auf deutsch^^).**

A cat? Hmm... That was a slightly weird thing to be compared to. Even though he did just call Dib a dog a few times yesterday and today. But still, Zim wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. Since what he'd seen of Earth cats, they had two sides. A vicious side, hissing, clawing, biting and all that when angry or annoyed, but then they also had a... lazy side. Yeah, that'd be the best way to explain it... Lying around, sleeping, purring and meowing for attention... Well... He only did two of those things. Clawing and purring, like Dib said.

Well, one thing was for sure, he wasn't going to do a little play like the human had yesterday. No way.

"I am n-not... a c-cat..." Zim mumbled, returning the hug. Here was another example of Dib saying something which Zim would usually rage at, but then did an action which stopped the lecture before anything even came to mind.

Feeling Zim's groping fingers leaving the mark, Dib was somewhat relieved, guessing Zim kinda liked it too. 'Well, only cats are purring,' he thought stubbornly and giggled.

"Okay, but still... I like your clawing and I like your purring, cat or not. Besides... No cat could keep a dog as a pet, heh. No. Impossible!" With that, the boy began to carefully push Zim back into the cushions, while continuing more serious now.

"Zim, d-do you even know... h-how dark your eyes are? Almost b-black. That's the first time... I've s-seen them like this." When Zim was on his back, Dib kneeled between the Irken's legs and sneaked his hands under is red shirt.

"A-And your smell.. really, i-it's like y-you're wearing strong perfume, Z-Zim..." Dib's slender fingers firmly grabbed Zim's sides. "...One I c-can't resist."

The new position they were both in somehow caused a quite heavy blush to appear on Zim's face, and he wasn't happy about Dib basically being on top once again. But the human spoke before any complaint could be heard from the Irken.

"W-Well no, s-since I can't see m-my eyes at the m-moment," Zim said, as if it wasn't obvious, but stopped at hearing the other continue.

The first thing which stuck in his mind was 'what is perfume?' But didn't think that this was the right time to ask. And it didn't seem like that was the main point of the sentence...

Gasping slightly from Dib's hands under his shirt, Zim's body began to heat up once again. "Again... T-That's good, r-right?"

While the Irken spoke, Dib could see how Zim's eyes didn't stay focused on his face. In fact, they were looked at Dib's face and... the mark on his chest, alternating. Was it that interesting? So the boy looked at it himself.

A simple small cross. Quite nicely carved into his skin, like it was done with a delicate red fineliner. Well, now it still was covered with scab, but soon... Touching it, he quietly hissed, it was still sensitive, fresh. Dib thought about how it will look a just a few hours. Suddenly he really hoped it would be a permanent scar. Apparently, Zim did it on accident, in the 'heat' of the moment. But... it was done by his hands, a neat little cross...

Without answering, Dib grabbed Zim's right hand, forgetting his recent 'approach', and used its three claws to trace along the other faint scars he got. Mostly by rough treatments from classmates. But a few of them... were made by Zim, back when there were enemies. During close hand combat. With the obvious advantage on the Irkens side. They were all rather faint though, except for Zim's ones he made on his sides. Long red lines.

To Dib, it seemed that his pale skin was the ideal surface for getting... marks carved into it. No tattoos or such... Ugh. Ink being injected right under his skin. No way.

"... y-yeah, that's very good...", Dib finally answered. Delayed and not only applied on Zims question... And there was that dreamy Dib-face again. Weird. Dib and his little fantasies...

Well, the long silence was unexpected to say the least. Zim had been expecting an almost instant reply of some kind. Yet nothing was heard for quite some time. Not words at least... But thoughts and the silent hiss of slight pain from Dib was still there...

Zim guessed that the mark was what the other was thinking of. Well, who could blame him... It was probably going to stay there for a long while if it left a scar. After all, scars didn't just leave over night. They took time... Sometimes even years if they were bad enough! At the sudden hand grab, Zim watched as the other moved his hand over the marks and scars from the past.

In some way, each one of them told a story of some kind... About how the human got them. And they weren't good stories. Not at all... Well, at least in his eyes... Looking back up to Dib's face once he got an answer, the expression he was wearing was unexpected also! Zim had been expecting a thoughtful one of some kind, yet no... It was the daydreaming face he'd seen so many times before. And the 'out of it' tone of Dib's answer almost confirmed that.

Rolling his eyes slightly, Zim waited for the human to snap out of whatever trance he'd gotten himself into again. After all, if the other wanted to daydream, that was fine... But the position they were still in was slightly awkward, especially with that face on the other.

Dib brushed one last time over the mark with Zim's hand. "I like that mark," he simply replied, before putting the green hands neatly on his lap, dangerously close to his groin. Where a slight bulge resided since several minutes ago. It was just now, that Dib really took notice of it.

"But now... back to my teasingly smelling Zimmy...-" Dib declared seductively and crawled on top of his mate, until he sat on Zim's hips, smiling evilly. Again the boy's mood had quickly changed into a lustful one. The sweet scent seemed to pour out of Zim's every pore now, it lulled Dib into... something. Now he was the one again, who felt 'weird'. Rubbing their connected hips together, Dib slowly leaned forward, until his lips lightly brushed against Zim's ones. He whispered, finishing his sentence. "-who lays helplessly and awaiting... beneath his m-marked pet."

"I can tell," Zim said, chuckling slightly at Dib's first remark. It was actually quite obvious how much the other liked the mark, since he kept staring at it and basically asked Zim to do it. To mark him. And Zim was actually starting to like it too, especially since the other liked it... It strangely suited the human.

He guessed that, that was the first mark he had received which he actually asked for. After all... the kids at Skool obviously didn't do them out of care. Oh how some humans sickened Zim. The same species weren't meant to attack each other. Well... at least from the ones he had seen in the universe.

These thoughts got interrupted by the moved position of his hands, again. But this one caused Zim's eyes to widen and the blush to only grow... His hands were right by that... 'place', that Dib had explained about twice now. That evil grin wasn't helping either... Nor the changed sitting position of Dib.

Suddenly Zim regretted not moving when he had the chance... Especially when their faces were so close. Gulping slightly, the Irken switched his gaze from one of Dib's eyes to the other, whining slightly from the grinding of their hips.

Another weird thought soon appeared into the boy's mind, when he heard Zim's whining. Somehow... it reminded him of a quiet, throaty version of a meow! Automatically, Dib answered with an amused "Woof!" Regarding the purring, Zim liked the current moment... but he looked so nervous, heh. Cute.

"Why so shocked, Zimmy?... Didn't your fault expect your pet to take the charge so suddenly? Well, too bad..." Dib caught Zim's lips eagerly, before he got any reply. Fiercely kissing the Irken, his tongue was a bit too fast.

While 'battling' with Zim's snake, it accidentally grinded the Irken's rather sharp teeth... and cut himself on one of them. Soon the taste of Irken saliva was override by the taste of his own blood. Dib stopped his work and backed away, slightly surprised. He stuck out his tongue and inspected his tongue. Well, just a small cut. Not much more blood than his mark revealed. He laughed nervously at Zim, who looked more shocked than he was.

"I-It's my fault, Zim. I was ... umm, too eager at k-kissing you, heh," he assured, to prevent any guilty feelings Zim could get.

At hearing the bark leave the other's mouth, Zim's shocked expression turned into a confused one... That was the last thing he had expected to hear at that moment in time, but some how was expected also... Strange really. Listening to Dib speak, Zim couldn't help but compare it to a gloat of some kind...

Pulling an unimpressed frown, he went to go speak, but soon found his mouth greeted by the human's own. For a few moments it was fine, just like any other kiss. The usual happy feeling along with a few tingles at their tongues meeting in yet another friendly fight. But soon that was met by something other than that... A new taste invaded the moment... A slight metallic taste. Zim had a feeling he knew what that taste was... but just prayed it wasn't.

At Dib's backing up, that suspicion only grew.

Once the human had stuck his tongue out, the Irken's suspicion was right. Blood. Eyes widening, Zim popped one of his fingers into his own mouth, to the tooth it had scraped across. After pulling it out, moved it to his line of sight and sure enough, the familiar red liquid was on his finger.

"...S-Seems like I have a h-habit for making y-you bleed, huh?"

"Yeah, if you see it that way... I-I don't mind it. In fact... I l-like it s-somehow..."

Seemed that his making-outs and cuddlings with Zim got more intense... which was nice. At least in Dib's mind. In the past, he wasn't very pleased to see his own blood, which was normal. But now it was a result of affectionate touching Dib shared with his Zim. So the boy was fascinated, how they were still fighting, but in a totally different way. Looking at Zim's finger, Dib mumbled, while his face flared up a cherry-red.

"It's weird ya' know, s-since somehow... I f-feel... like... your prey. Yeah, that's the word. And n-now I know how sharp your teeth can be, not t-to mention your claws... no wonder I'm the pet, heh."

After readjusting on Zim's hips again with some more grinding against it... Dib grabbed the bloody finger and put it in his mouth, very careful this time. Slowly, he licked the blood off of it and put the hand on his leg, near his crotch again, before he leaned forward and whispered amused.

"I d-didn't know you wanted to b-be on top sooo badly, Zimmy... or maybe you j-just wanna taste it..."

He began to nibble at Zim's bottom lip, using his 'wounded' tongue to lick it, giving Zim the metallic taste again. Soon, the boy leaned away, slightly panting. Sure, Dib already knew the flavour of blood, but was now rather curious about Zim's impression.

"S-So... how does it taste?... D-Do you like it?"

Oh boy... Zim's hand near his loins and that 'special' part of him really made him giddy.

Well... This was a slight weird conversation. In the middle of a 'moment', and talking about blood... Zim was sure this wasn't considered a normal discussion... At seeing Dib's flushed face, Zim couldn't help but think that the other wasn't as confident as he seemed.

But that thought got destroyed as their hips grinded together once again, causing a groan of annoyance to be heard as he tried to stay focused. And having his finger put in the other's mouth wasn't helping... Zim didn't know why, but it didn't feel as innocent as it should do... Not just his mate getting rid of the blood. What else he did not know...

"W-Why would I w-want to tast- ah," he began, but got interrupted as his lip began to get gently bit on and then licked with that blood covered tongue of Dib's. This caused Zim to squirm slightly, since he didn't exactly want the human's blood in his mouth again, but at hearing the final question, he guessed he had to.

Sighing, he cautiously licked his own lips to bring back the taste.

"Y-You know... Y-You sound l-like one of those v-vampire-thingys... W-With your talk about the t-taste of blood..." He chuckled, before thinking about his answer. "W-Well... It's... metallic, that for s-sure... Uh... S-Slightly salty... but also kind of s-sharp..." Zim explained, blush increasing. "A-And it's... okay... N-Not something I'd wish to g-get used to... Since your b-blood keeps you alive..."

"Seems that I'm all kind of things. A dog, a zombie and now... a vampire. S-Sometimes a pillow too! Heh, now you s-see how useful I c-can be." Dib wanted to lighten the mood a bit with this attempt of the reminder all of his various 'titles'.

Dib rested his hand onto Zim's one, which laid on his thigh, not moving an inch. "B-But... being your pet is by far the b-best thing. A-And I didn't want to scare you with... with by questions about the taste of b-blood. It's just... I don't know... m-maybe because you got s-such a nice taste in moments like these... e-especially your a-antennae." His face flared up even more at the last part.

"It sounds weird but... b-but I wish my body got t-that ability to... umm giving off a k-kind of taste or... an a-alluring scent, l-like you do." Unconsciously, Dib glanced at Zim's feeler and, barely noticeably, licked his lips, the slight sizzling and metallic flavour of his blood still in his mouth.

With each reminder of Dib's previous titles, an image in Zim's mind only grew.

To begin with, it was just Dib as normal, but now it was a black-haired dog, with the human's hair, and round glasses balanced carefully on its muzzle. It's body a pillow, with four legs, attached at each corner. One ear was torn off in an almost rotting manner, and was drooling slightly from lack of brain. And inside the creature's mouth, two fangs...

Zim had to hold back a chuckle at that...

Boy, what a creature... He was just thankful that it didn't exist. Or maybe it did... Just as Dib had said... He was all of them, just as the appearance of a human. Heh, well he was better looking than that deformed dog creature in the image. And he actually had a brain too.

"Zim w-wasn't scared!" He announced, in an almost defensive tone. "A-And, you may n-not have a... a taste, b-but... you d-do have a slight s-scent... Just your n-natural one..." Zim admitted. He couldn't really explain in words what that scent smelt like, but if he did... he'd have to say it smelt like... well, Dib! Familiar and almost comforting in some way or another...

Dib well noticed Zim's chuckle, but didn't said anything about it. Who could blame him anyway? The boy knew how weird his ideas sometimes could be. He gave half of these titles himself after all. But being a pet... well, he'd never thought about that, but after he literally acted like a dog, it wasn't really surprising Zim came up with the pet title.

Grinning at Zim's defensive words, Dib's expression soon turned into a curious one. "I-I do?" He asked, a little too hopeful. Then he remembered. "Oh, yeah... y-you mentioned that before. B-Back at the base, when we first... cuddled. You said I-I s-smell nice. Heh, and all these years I was t-the 'Dib-stink'. How ironic..."

Dib was a little surprised how he could sit on top of Zim, babbling... and without any attempt to make-out! Well, except for that hand on his thigh... Suddenly, he began to tremble ever so slightly. Zim's hand still laid there, motionless. The Irken made no move to remove his claws from 'that place'. Maybe... Dib didn't explain enough about it.

Carefully, he grabbed Zim's hand and slooowly moved it more towards his groin. Soon, that hot feeling, paired with a slight arousement returned. The boy was curious. Well, he just wanted to know more about Zim and all his likings... and reactions. And equally... about his own body... and all his functions.

That was true. What Dib had said... All those years, having the word 'stink' added to his name... Stink meant a bad smell. A strong one. But... But now, it wasn't a bad smell, it was actually quite nice. It appeared that his opinion had changed a lot of Dib in the past few days. His smell was just the beginning of it.

The way he looked was after. No longer was he the horrible, ugly, putrid human. No way... He was actually quite an attractive being. Especially his eyes... Two jewels, delicately and carefully positioned on the other's face.

Another was his intelligence. The past few days had proven that Dib knew a LOT more than Zim expected him to. Strange how things had turned out between them. Strange, but good. That wasn't the only strange thing... Looking up towards Dib's face, there was a quite obvious blush. Slightly confused, Zim looked back down to their joined hands, which appeared to be moving... quite slowly towards... The Irken soon joined the other, so now they were both blushing. Quite heavily. Yet, he didn't say anything, since in all honestly, he was quite curious... As weird as it may sound, it was the truth.

Dib really didn't mean to make the current moment so awkward again, but he wanted to... well, to do even more with Zim. Explore each other's body. And that was so few for both of them, so it apparently was inevitable to get at least very nervous. Dib inspected the Irken's expression for some seconds: an open, rather blank expression, embedded into neon-green...

Dib gulped and finally brought himself to move Zim's hand again... so it was now resting right on his... well, yeah... on the bulge. He was only wearing light sweatpants, so the boy felt even more of Zim's claws through the cloth. Immediately, his whole loin area heated up and his shaking intensified. He tried to suppress a quiet whine, but failed. With an almost pleading, needy expression Dib looked into the Irken's black eyes.

"... Z-Zim?...I ...I..-" He quickly snatched Zim's other hand and tightly squeezed it... yeah, that helped a bit. Dib's other hand let go of Zim's and lonely trembled beside.

Now with one hand being half crushed, and the other being on 'that' area, Zim's blush only increased. Hearing Dib's shaky voice and slight whine, he changed his gaze from his hands position, to the human's face, then back again...

Well, he only knew what the other had told him about this... this thing. Usually the subject was embarrassing for Dib to speak about, yet somehow he managed. And now, here Zim was... with his hand on top of the baggy fabric which covered it... Biting his own lip slightly to calm his nerves, he looked back up to the other's face... Dib was shaking quite visibly now... Obviously this... thing... was sensitive, or the other was just embarrassed. Either way, it was awkward. Yet, that expression suggested that maybe it wasn't all bad.

Mentally arguing with himself what to do, Zim thought of something, yet... worried whether this was what that face meant or not. Taking a breath in, began to move his hand from side to side ever so slightly, constantly watching Dib's face for any signs of negative or positive feedback.

Excitement shot through his heating body, when Dib felt a small movement between his legs. Zim was... rubbing 'it'! Well, what did he expected, placing the Irken's hand right on it? Soon, Dib felt his member lightly stiffening under the other's caress. With his famous tomato-blush, he looked down at the hand and saw how the bulge had grown under the green palm... Looking back to Zim, he shyly smiled.

"T-That... f-feels good, Zim. It's... a-actually the m-most sensitive p-part... of m-my body..." Closing his eyes, Dib concentrated on the movement of Zim's hand and the feelings that induced... This moment was so weird, yet it felt so... so right and... intimate!

Smiling never leaving his face, Dib let out another pleasant wine, but this time happily allowed it.

"I-I guessed t-that... funny e-enough..." Zim replied, trying to make the moment less... weird. Yet it didn't seem to show much effect...

Both their blushes were still present, and the whine, along with the Dib's smile, caused the knotting in his 'stomach' to intense until it felt like it was just going to implode... It was a nice feeling though in some strange way. The thing was lay under Zim's hand seemed to... grow slightly, which was an extremely weird fact for the Irken... Yet he wasn't going to question it, since Dib already seemed so out of it... Almost brain dead.

It would have been amusing if the moment hadn't been as tense as it was. Now that the Irken knew that the other liked this, he increased the speed of the tiny rubs. He didn't know why, but this somehow felt more intense than their previous moments. And he didn't know if that was good or bad.

As a reaction, Dib shuffled forward on Zim's hips, causing some friction, which fuelled the hot feelings the Irken was causing. Just by a single motion of one hand... Out of instinct, the boy spread his legs a bit more and began to lightly scratch the back of Zim's other hand with his own, while constantly squeezing it.

A sudden rush of... lust rolled over Dib. He never felt that feeling so intense like in this moment and got the notion, that soon enough... it would get even stronger. Speaking was becoming rather hard, along with his member. That soon resulted in a moan. With a lightly high pitched voice, Dib managed to reply.

"T-That's t-the reason I... l-like your hands, Z-Zim... they're gentle a-and... and quite versatile... mmm, n-nice..." Barely noticeable, he pressed his groin more into Zim's working hand. "Z-Zimmy... d-don't s-stop."

At the ever so slight friction caused by Dib's movement, Zim inhaled slightly, but stayed focused on his current task. Taking note of the light scratching and squeezing, he almost took that as a motive for his following action.

Stopping his rubbing for a moment, took a breath in, as if considering whether he should or not, before firmly grabbing the now plainly obvious bulge, and squeezing ever so slightly.

Now, to any normal human, this was obviously a very... extreme moment, would be the only word to explain it. But to Zim, who knew nothing of this, just thought of it as another normal part of the human... Just sensitive, and was just following Dib's order. To not stop.

Smirking slightly from the previous moan, Zim waited for feedback on this new action.

A never heard before squeak escaped Dib as an immediate reaction to Zim. More a brief moment, Dib eyes shot open in embarrassment. Well, THAT sounded odd... Did he made that sound? Oh boy... But soon, this thoughts vanished, when his eyes shut halfway at feeling the buzzing arousement only grow. His member began to twitch sporadically, as if it wanted to rub more against the Irken's hugging hand...

"...Z-Zim... b-before when you... w-were sucking o-on my n-nipple...-" he pointed to one of the pinky spots on his chest. "- t-that was... n-nothing c-compared to w-what I'm... feeling now..."

Something told Dib that this was way more similar to the feeling Zim got when the boy licked at his antenna. And there still was cloth between Zim's hand and his penis. And it already affected him so much! Dib didn't want to imagine what it would feel like, when... when he wasn't wearing any clothes at all... Well, he couldn't help but think about it anyway.

"...Z-Zim!.. Y-Yes, that's... t-that's sooo good... you're a-amazing..."

The show in front of Zim was quite something. And it was all caused by this one simple hand movement? Heh, again, he couldn't help but find that fact rather interesting. Now he knew of two super sensitive parts of Dib's body, and he sure was going to keep those in mind. After all, he was sure this wasn't going to be the last 'moment' they shared together. Since, they were mates now. So it seemed only normal that they would do this sort of thing again. Much like they did when special friends.

But this time, it'd be better, since there was always that one bothersome fact floating at the back of both their minds at that time. 'Friends don't do this'. Well, that wasn't needed anymore. 'And good riddance,' Zim thought, smirk only growing. But that soon got replaced by a shocked expression at hearing the human's last words. He didn't know that it affected the other THAT much...

Heh, funny really...

Now they both knew each other's 'weaknesses'.

"Heh, well if y-your reactions a-are anything to go b-by... that fact i-is incredibly t-true..."

"W-Well, it's... the f-fact that you're the one... who's doing t-this to me... m-my mate... w-which I love, r-really love...-" Dib rested his trembling hand on Zim's squeezing one and looked fondly at his mate. "-a-and t-that' all so new t-to me, Zim...m-maybe my body i-is just... o-overreacting o-or something... I c-can't really control it." Shaking his head confidently, Dib added. "I-I wouldn't want to a-anyway... N-Now I just let m-my 'other' side take charge..."

The boy wasn't scared of this side of his personality anymore. Yeah, it felt more like it only had waited for something like... this... to happen. So, all Dib could do was to allow himself to be led by it...

Zim had almost forgotten about Dib's 'other personality'. But now he remembered that, that was what had caused so many of the human's previous break downs. Though now, it seemed like he didn't mind at all. Well that was a relief... No more Dib break downs. It was always tricky to deal with them... Since for starters, Zim knew nothing about cheering people up, but at least he tried. And second, he didn't like a sad human...

He preferred Dib to be happy and smiling.

"A-As long as y-you don't b-break down afterwards, t-then that's fine..." Zim explained, half joking but at the same time quite serious. Feeling the other's hand on his own... the one which was on 'that' place, the Irken stopped his squeezing for a moment, and looked up to Dib's face. Well, the blush was still there, as to be expected. Yet the caring look that he was receiving caused him to return the smile.

Maybe the moment wasn't as awkward as he thought it was...

"It's f-funny ya' know... s-since we're almost always c-connected to e-each other... physically. Through o-our hands. Even if w-we don't do a-anything, we're a-at least... holding hands..." Yeah, it was a rare occasion for them not just at least hold the other's hand, if they were not interacting in another way... And it was now that Dib noticed that he indeed was holding both of Zim's hands again. Quite fascinating hands... only three fingers, but still they were able to make Dib feel like... like wax, like a happy fool.

"I-I promise... n-not break down because of a-any... awkward m-moments. N-Now I got no r-reason for it, s-since it's totally right and... i-it makes us both h-happy..." Dib looked down at his torso and inspected all the scars and lines there. The old ones from being bullied and beaten up quite badly got no meaning for him anymore. They already faded and were barely visible on his pale skin.

What made his smile grow even more were Zim's marks. the straight red lines on his sides and especially... the small reddish cross right above his heart. Well, at least that one would hopefully last for a long time. His mate's mark... Looking down at the certain green hand beneath his own, Dib again wondered how impressive those claw-like hands were. They carved a scar into his skin just minutes ago and now... rubbed against the most sensitive part of his body. Stimulated the boy in new, foreign ways.

Now that he thought about it, he'd only tried once to... pleasure himself. Soon it came to an 'end'. That one time, he was almost... scared of his own body, so he didn't tried it again. Nothing of this scare Dib felt in this moment, as he sat shirtlessly on top of his newly declared mate. The first sign he actually loved... Such enormous changes, in almost no time!

Getting out of his train of thoughts soon enough, Dib now concentrated on the storm of feelings inside himself and the reason for them. Zim... He let go of the other's hand and grabbed the other one with both of his, playing nervously with the three green digits.

"I-I can't tell... h-how curious you are, so... umm, a-as your pet y-you can do w-whatever is on your m-mind, Zimmy...-" Dib again shuffled forward on Zim, onto his stomach and laid an seductive undertone in his voice "-...heh, although I-I maybe got a-an idea... what t-that could be..." Dib just couldn't deny that he really liked it, when Zim took charge.

Now that his hand was free, Zim couldn't help but let out a slight sigh of relief, since he was beginning to think that the other didn't want him to continue with... this. Since usually when someone puts their hand on yours whilst it's working, well... in this case rubbing and squeezing, it means to stop. But obviously not this time. And now Dib was even closer, since he was no longer sitting on his hips, but instead on his stomach. The tone of his voice didn't help with the knotting sensation he was feeling again.

Hmm... So, Zim could do anything? Suddenly his mind went blank. He really couldn't think of anything. Ugh, what a time to have no ideas. Well... he did have one. But he wasn't sure whether that classified as 'whatever'... Plus, it probably wouldn't be appreciated by Dib. Since it did involve... well, that thing in his 'pocket'. In all honestly, he wanted to see it. But obviously that would be just too weird of a request. Especially from what the human had said about it... And how he got embarrassed so easily by it. So maybe not.

Mentally sighing, Zim looked up to Dib's face, to back down to where his hand lay. Well... Lets think of the pros and cons of the idea:

Pro, if Dib liked this... this rubbing, from outside the clothing, then surely he wouldn't mind skin to skin contact.

Con, if he didn't, then it could freak him out and ruin the moment... if not the relationship...

Pro, the human DID say whatever... so that meant he could do anything.

Con, what he knew of this... thing, it was quite personal and embarrassing, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

Pro, Zim would be able to find out more.

UGH!

Eyes glancing from Dib's face, to his hand, to the floor, to the window and then the cycle beginning again, the Irken began to bit his own lip in thought. Right... here it went.

Lifting up his hand, positioned it right above the human's trousers' waistband, before carefully sliding his hand in. Weirdly, there was a second piece of clothing beneath. He'd heard of these things... Human underwear. As odd as it may sound, Irken's didn't wear any... Didn't really see the need, since they didn't change out of their uniforms at any time.

Blush increasing until it felt like Zim's face was on fire, he crept his hand beneath that too, constantly looking at Dib's face, for any signs of any negative reactions.

Closely watching the different expressions Zim was making, Dib got the feeling that maybe he somehow... demanded too much from Zim by his offer. Obviously, the Irken was thinking quite hard about what to do. For Dib, it wasn't to hard to guess what that could be, but... he just was too nervous to speak it out loud. But after some more seconds of silence, he decided to make a hint or something and was thinking of what to say, when suddenly... Zim's hand moved under his pants.

Exactly what Dib had hoped for, but he went rigid non the less. Ahem... And quickly, Dib felt three icy fingers lightly brushing against his half erected member. A quite loud, sudden gasp and perfectly round amber-coloured eyes, glistening with excitement and lust were the result. More blood were pumped into his 'southern area' as Dib distinctively shuddered.

"Ziiiimm... Zim!" He whined and tightly closed his eyes as the first shock was replaced with... a rush of... desire. He felt his member growing even more at the direct skin to skin contact. Now that Zim made this delicate move, Dib wanted to feel even more of the Irken's hand.

"Zim... d-do you... do you... w-want t-to go... f-f-further?" Dib asked, trembling in a mixture of nervousness and pleasure. As another sign, the boy gripped the waistband and very slowly slid it down a bit more, so Zim's hand got an easier access...

Well, at least Zim knew now that he hadn't done something wrong. At the gasp which escaped Dib's mouth, he jumped slightly, getting ready to pull his hand out, but at hearing his name being said like that, well, that gave a totally different view on the situation. Dib enjoyed it... Heh. To put what his hand felt in words... He'd have to say it was like putting his hand into a oven... A warm one... Since Dib seemed really warm... 'down there'... Well, he did everywhere else too.

Hmm, Zim guessed that maybe humans have a higher average body temperature than Irkens do. Wouldn't be surprising. But still, it was quite weird to have his hand on something... like that. After all the things the other had explained about it... There he was, with it in his hand. And it appeared to be... growing? What a weird thing for it to do... For some reason, it didn't feel like just another part of Dib's body... It felt like something more. Zim couldn't really explain it. It was just weird. The entire moment was weird! Maybe not in a bad way though.

"F-Further?" Zim repeated, a look of complete confusion plastered on his face. What did that mean? Yet, from the way the other had said it, stuttering and nervous, he guessed he shouldn't really ask... After all, it couldn't be bad, right?

"Uhh... O-Okay..." He mumbled, hand still gently rubbing... 'it'. Zim didn't really have to think about it, his hand just kept moving on its own. Strange...

"Ohhh~~" Dib lowly moaned out as he felt his member stiffening in Zim's hand. To go 'further' Dib just wanted to get rid of his clothes first, so after some more inner turmoil of different feelings, he veeery reluctantly gripped Zim's hand and removed it out of his pants. Opening his eyes, he forced a small smile through all his nervousness. He decided now it was the right moment for Zim too see him, his pet, his Dib-love... naked.

"L-L-...Let me... show y-you then..." He mumbled and got off of Zim, crawled off from the bed too and stood with his back to Zim. He didn't really mind, that Zim still got all of his clothes on. Strangely, the only thing that Dib cared about was that his Irken mate could explore his pale body on his own. Taking a last deep breath, he let the sweatpants fall to the ground, revealing his underwear.

Wide boxers with many little UFO-shaped... thingys strewn all over it. Dib would get rather embarrassed about that, if they would be in another situation. Soon, the underwear met the pants on the ground, so now Dib stood there, totally in the buff...

Quickly, he bent down and snatched the towel from before, which laid on the floor. Draping it over the front half of his lower body, Dib turned around and carefully crawled onto the bed again and moved to the opposite side where Zim was, holding the towel in place with one hand. He found this whole play of 'hiding his body' in that moment really... ridiculous, but... well, he wanted to let Zim have the control, so he laid on his back, so Zim could crawl on top of him again, if he wanted. The towel loosely covered his legs and member, which obviously was almost fully erected by now, regarding the huge bulge...

Quickly, Dib made a small tower of pillows for his head, so he didn't had to hold it up to see the other. "S-Sorry for... t-that, b-but I think it's better t-this way..."

The boy lifted two shaky arm, making grabby motions. "C-Come to me, Z-Zimmy... y-your Dib-pet awaits y-you." The smile returned at seeing the Irken's face. Yeah, now it was getting 'intense'.

Watching Dib stand up, Zim decided to sit up properly and watch. Crossing his legs, sat upright as he watched intently to what the other was doing. He was slightly annoyed at how the human was turned away, but then also somewhat relieved. After all, he wanted to know what that thing he just had in his hand looked like, but also wanted to keep wondering at the same time. Weird, but true.

Zim's blush would have increased, but anymore so and his head may have exploded from heat... So, it just stayed like a neon-green light bulb. Once the trousers were out the way, the first thing which caught his eye was the pattern on the human's underwear... As expected, little mini spacecrafts...

At that, Zim had to hold his breath to suppress his laughter which was threatening to become present. Luckily, it didn't. But the funny moment was short-lived as Dib went to pull down the UFO-covered clothe.

Not sure whether to look away or not, Zim just lowered his head slightly, but kept his eyes locked onto what the other was doing... Somehow, he just couldn't look away, no matter how hard he tried. Once the last piece of clothing was gone, the Irken's stomach felt like it was just going to explode from how tight it felt... There... right in front of him... his mate, old enemy, pet, human... was in the nude.

It was only then he realized he was fully dressed. Somehow, he felt kind of guilty about that, but also thankful.

As Dib turned around, the first thing Zim went to view was what his hand had touched, but to his disappointment, it was covered by a towel, the same one which covered him before. Once Dib was back on the bed and made those familiar grabby hand gestures, Zim gulped slightly, before crawling over too. Now he was kneeling carefully beside the other, looking at the towel.

With a shaking hand, slowly reached towards the lower end of the towel. After taking a quick glance at Dib's face, yanked the clothe away whilst closing his eyes, now extremely embarrassed... Carefully opening an eye, before the other followed lead, gasped slightly...

Almost standing to attention, was the human's... Well... 'thing'. As pale as the rest of him was...

"S-So... That's... w-what was i-in your 'pocket'..." He mumbled, trying to lessen the awkwardness that hung in the air. Dropping the towel beside him, slowly brought the same hand over to the other's member, and gently took hold of it in between his three fingers. Odd... Yet, somehow expected.

Well, that moment felt different from before... Dib watched closely all of Zim's actions. He never saw such a heavy blush on the Irken's face, but guessed Zim would say the same of his face.

"Umm... y-yeah..." The boy simply replied. With a dull view, Dib's eyes followed Zim's hand... until it grabbed his stiff shaft. "Hmpf... y-yeees..." Dib began to pant a bit as a new rush of arousement threatened to overpower him. But which washed away a good chunk of his nervousness. The feeling of the Irken's soft, cool skin on his... hard-on... gave him chills, like he touched an open power cable. Just from the mere touch... oh boy.

Letting out a small mewling noise, Dib managed to ask with a hopeful smile: "...d-does my Z-Zimmy... l-likes his D-Dib-pet... 'fully e-exposed'...?" Dib tried to overact his embarrassment, but also really wanted to know what his mate thought about... well, ALL of his body. The whole Dib...

At hearing the few noises coming from Dib by this one small touch, Zim's eyes widened slightly as he glanced towards the other's face for a few seconds, before back to the thing in his hand...

"Y-Yeah... Dib-pet l-looks really n-nice..." He admitted, letting his eyes roam around the human's body. Well, one thing was for sure... he was very pale. Heh, well that was quite obvious really. But still. He had quite a few scars in other places, not only on his torso... Some on his arms and legs too... Yet, Zim hardly noticed them.

It wasn't the fact that Dib was nude which fascinated the Irken. It was mostly the fact that he'd never seen a human like this before. The most he'd seen in the past, was Dib shirtless. But now... well, he had nothing on. Heh, and in all honestly, Zim didn't feel that awkward anymore, just embarrassed and interested.

Being curious for more reactions from the touches to Dib's... thing, began to move his hand up and down slightly, and every now and then squeezing. Quite similar to what he did before.

Well, the Irken's compliment somehow... turned Dib on. Especially, when he watched Zim inspecting his bare body with his eyes... Apparently, his Irken mate found him attractive... Dib couldn't help but feeling a little proud about that fact. If Zim found him good-looking, then he was! Anyhow, that thought was instantly replaced by a blank mind and sounds made out of instinct, when the Irken began to move his hand.

"Oh!... mmmm... Z-Ziiiimmm..." he broadly moaned out his mates name and squirmed around a bit. Zim was... stroking his... member. Pleasuring Dib in the most intimate way possible... "Yeees... t-that's f-feels so... a-amazing!..."

Panting from all the heat, which rolled over his body, Dib tightly gripped the sheets beside him to keep his hands from flailing around. With closed eyes, Dib rested his head on the pillows and concentrated on the Irken's curious fingers, trailing along his erection, which now stood at full attention, in all its glory... Dib was almost scared he would fall unconscious from all the intense feelings boiling inside of him.

"mmm... Zim!... d-don't stop, p-please... I-I want... t-to feel m-more of it... m-my beloved... mate, ohhh..." As some kind of encouragement, Dib just slightly bucked his hips into Zim's touch now and then.

Having his name called out like that caused a chill to go down the Irken's back, along with a shudder. He didn't know how, or why, but hearing that always affected him in some way...

Yet, the one being affected most by this moment was certainly Dib. With all the squirming, moaning, panting and such. It was some how amusing to watch, but also sparked the dominant side of Zim again... That feeling from before was back... yet this time it wasn't weird, since now he knew what it meant.

Never would have Zim expected this to happen... Sitting right here, in front of a naked Dib, and making the other make those sounds, all by one simple touch. He knew that one touch could bring a heck lot of pain, but now he also knew it could do the opposite. Strange really. Zim couldn't help but smirk slightly as he noticed Dib bucking his hips every so often.

"I-It seems like Dib-pet i-is pleased... Heh..." He said, stating the obvious really, as he moved his hand faster.

At Zim's speedening caressings, Dib nearly cried out.

"Ah... Ah! Y-Yeah... s-sooo good... a-and how p-pleased y-your pet is... s-so m-much...!" He began to sporadically moan out the Irken's name between heavy pants, every time a bit louder than before. The boy was in ecstasy as he curled his toes and his head jerkily moved to the side a few times. He was covered in sweat.

After some more seconds of literally mind-blowing pleasure, Dib soon felt a light pressure beginning to build up... in his member. Along with a wet feeling at the tip of his shaft, crawling down its side... pre-cum was already dripping out. Luckily, Dib noticed that timely and instinctively knew what it was. He was approaching his climax... And strangely, didn't want that to happen... yet.

"Z-Z...Zim, s-stop! ...please... stop, or... or I'm g-going to...I-I...I'm going to c-come soon..."


	43. Chapter 43

**Hya! Well, obviously the two have fun with each other^^ But... it will get even better! :D Yay! It's veeeery SMEXY!**

**Enjoy! (I know you will :P)**

With each noise Dib made, it caused a chill to make an entrance for a moment, and each time it did, caused his hands to shake slightly... To Zim, it still felt like none of this was real... Like he was having a dream... A weird dream. Suddenly he felt rather dizzy...

Yet, at hearing the human's begging for him to stop, instantly pulled back his hand, and looked towards Dib's face. His face looked like he'd been in the sun for hours and got a bad sunburn from how much he was blushing. And from how much he was sweating, Zim didn't need to be in contact with him to tell he was overheating...

Looking back to the other's member, noticed some type of liquid forming... Lifting up his hand, the one which had been on it, it too had some of the stuff on. Zim's face of slight disgust soon turned into one of concern.

"A-Are you o-okay?" He cautiously asked whilst wiping the liquid off his hand onto his jeans.

Dib's head felt like his brain was drained out and turning into jelly. All he could do was to lay there, panting and staring at the ceiling. He couldn't believe what they'd just done... what he had just experienced...

"Yeah... I'm okay... v-very much s-so..." Well, of course, since the Irken pleasured him just moments ago.

For Dib the first time something like this happened. There wasn't even similar stuff... not in the slightest. Dib was just relieved he made Zim stop in time before... Oh boy, it felt so amazing, that he almost... Because of Zim... In front of him!

But Dib didn't stop because he was ashamed or something, no. But without a warning, letting his body react that way... Truly Zim would be scared or even disgusted by it, or worse... The second reason was, Dib was afraid it would end if he'd... cum. That was much too soon! He didn't want to end their cuddling or 'moment' or making-out or... what ever it was called their were doing since they woke up... And during Zim's 'handy work, a total new level of want... of lust, had appeared. All directed to Zim...

Shuddering slightly at that thought, Dib spoke up again. " I'm... j-just feeling... good... I-I can't ... r-really describe it... just v-very very... n-nice. I-I only s-said stop... because I w-was about t-to... y-ya' know... to c-cum. O-Or having an...a-an-"

Oh boy!

"...h-having an o-orgasm..." As he forced out the last part, Dib covered his face in his shaking hands for a brief moment and took several deep breaths, before his arms fell lazily to his sides again.

Looking up at his Irken, he mumbled. "C-Could you... h-hold my hands, Z-Zim... please," he mumbled pleadingly.

Once his hand was clean again, Zim went back to watching Dib recover from the state he was in. It looked like he had just ran a marathon... Well, maybe he had in some way. A marathon of thoughts, feelings and emotions. ...Well, that sounded weird, even to Zim. Oh well.

He was trying his best to avoid looking at the human's... thing, but it was tricky. Since, he was still so curious about it. Yet, listening to Dib speak, it didn't really mean a thing to him. Mostly because he had no idea what those words meant. But from the way the other was covering his face like that, seeming embarrassed by what he had just said, Zim thought it best not to ask at the moment. After all, he'd already found out so much about Dib and his body this morning, but that had caused a lot of embarrassment to the human, yet the other knew nothing new about him... Made him feel slightly guilty for that.

"Sure," was Zim's simple reply as he crawled slightly closer to Dib's torso, so he had better access to the other's hands. Reaching over, grabbed each of the human's hands with his own and squeezed reassuringly.

The Irken's blush had died down slightly, yet Dib's one seemed permanent at the moment. Well, he was obviously still rather embarrassed. Who wouldn't be though? Naked and after... what just happened. There probably wasn't a being alive who wouldn't find this embarrassing in some way or another.

Dib couldn't help but glance at Zim's hand every so often... that certain hand did it. This three-fingered green hand, along with the affection and love he felt for Zim, had made him feel so... good! So incredibly 'different'.

Looking at his mate, Dib saw that the other's eyes were still black, maybe even a bit darker... Well knowing what that meant, Dib smiled warmly at Zim and kissed his hands. First the right, than the left one.

"T-Thanks." Then he laid both of them on his chest, so one was resting directly over the small cross-mark, which was seen between two green claws... Heh, X marks the spot of treasure, so... Zim's treasure was Dib's heart. Thinking about how he got it, Dib believed that the other couldn't have found a better place for a mark...

"...Zim, y-you're amazing... you k-know t-that?" Dib possessively pressed the other's hands to his chest with his own and intertwined their fingers, which was already some kind of custom between them.

The previous concerned expression soon turned into a smile as Zim received that compliment and his hands got a momentary kiss each. Heh, well Dib seemed to have nearly fully recovered now. Since he didn't have so much of a brain dead face anymore.

"W-Well I should, s-since you've told me a f-few times now," he explained, chuckling slightly.

It was always nice to hear those kind of comments from Dib. Especially after so many years of fighting. Now that he thought about it... he was the first person to actually complimented him and meant it.

Smile increasing at that thought, Zim leant towards Dib more until their lips met. After a few moments, he sat back up right.

It was only then that he noticed where his hand actually lay. Right above the mark he had made earlier. It had cleared up now... Not a speck of blood in sight. Which was good. Now that he wasn't panicking about it, it actually wasn't that bad... It was just the fact that Zim had made it which caused him to panic.

But now, heh, it didn't look half bad.

Since they always made the Irken smile, Dib decided he would have to make more of these compliments in the future. But that matter quickly vanished, when Zim kissed him. That small kiss... was an ignition. It instantly brought all those wanting feelings he felt during... the previous 'moment' back.

Lust shot to the front line of his thoughts, so he couldn't resist and lunged forward and hugged Zim tightly.

Whimpering wantingly, he brought his mouth near to the other's antenna and whispered, "...y-you remember t-that... 'weird' f-feeling you got w-when you laid on top of m-me? ...I-I feel s-so weird right now... b-but way s-stronger than before... Z-Zim!... you did so m-much for me... I want t-to make y-you feel so g-good too. H-How I felt b-before..."

Tightly shutting his eyes, he only tightened the hug and began to fiddle with Zim's shirt.

"...I... I-I want you, Z-Zimmy... a-all of you..." Dib didn't even know himself what that really meant, but he tried as best as he could expressing his feelings.

Letting out a surprised yelp at the sudden hug, Zim quickly registered what was going on, and wrapped his arms around the human's torso in a returned hug. It would have been a nice, calm hug, and Zim expected that, since he thought Dib didn't want anymore of these moments for awhile. But apparently he thought wrong.

Antenna twitching slightly again from the warm air, he tried to ignore the feeling it produced in his stomach, and focus on Dib's words. Once he'd finished, Zim's eyes widened in shock, but also confusion...

The shock was caused from the mention of that feeling they had both felt now. He understood that much, since the other had explained it as best he could before. And he had first hand experience with it... And the human had said it was stronger this time? Was that good or bad? He didn't know...

Confusion was from the last part... By the other's tone, it sounded like he was unsure himself about what it meant... But Zim had no idea, so replied with a simple "Eh?" whilst trying to see Dib's face, yet failed due to the tightness of the hug.

Well, wasn't this the most typical Zim-answer? Yes. So even in that tense moment Dib just had to chuckle at this. Strangely enough, Zim's innocence was making such moments sometimes less awkward.

Now, that kinda helped to calm Dib just slightly, so he mumbled. "I w-want... to hear those s-sounds from you... oh Zim, I... I want t-to see you s-squirm in pleasure... to cry out m-my name..."

His other side was loving this, and therefore, Dib was.

"Your pet w-wants to t-thank its Zimmy... for aaaall the r-rewards it received..." he whispered sultrily.

Raising his hands, Dib gently grabbed both antennas and, teasingly slow, stroked them from the base to the upper end... But his fingers stopped right before the tip before they went down again. After he sat in a more comfortable position, the boy gave Zim a little lick to his cheek and already felt his member getting bigger again.

"...B-But first, you need to t-take off your shirt..." Dib was slightly scared at how... foreign his voice could sound, but he wasn't complaining, since it felt so right to speak like that. He just wanted to show his Irken how much he desired him in that moment.

Hearing Dib's laughter, Zim's confusion only grew. He was actually beginning to get slightly annoyed, but that stopped as soon as he got the answer.

Eyes widening as far as they could go, his blush also became present, and began to burn his face once again. He didn't think that his embarrassment could get any worse at that moment, but feeling Dib's fingers on both of his antennae, well, that changed his thoughts.

Whining slightly at the back of his throat, Zim's eyes closed halfway at the attention he was suddenly receiving. The sound of the human's voice sent a couple of chills down the Irken's back, and the knotting in his stomach to increase greatly. Sure he'd heard the other speak like this before... but now, heh, now it was so much more effective.

"O-Okay..." Zim managed, as he stopped his hug and backed up slightly.

Reaching for the hem of his shirt, paused for a moment to feel the texture of it. It may sound stupid, since he'd been wearing it for the past few days, but... but it was only now he realized how valuable it was. Not in ways of money, no... But in the way of memories.

Shaking his head slightly, slowly brought the clothing over his head. Once it was in his hands, he folded it up carefully and placed it beside him, before looking back to Dib.

Dib, fascinated, mustered Zim's chest. He'd seen it before, but now... he actually saw how nice Zim looked. Not in the way of human standard terms, but more in a exotic 'alien' way. His torso was slightly paler than the rest of his body, especially his face. Probably the sun. It was a nice light mint-green. No nipples and no belly-button. Made Zim all the more interesting.

But time to ask such questions was at another occasion. And apparently, the simple red shirt meant quite a lot to Zim, seeing at how cautious Zim had treated it.

Dib crawled behind the Irken and happily wrapped his arms around the smaller male's torso.

"You're such an attractive being, Zimmy... MY attractive Irken mate, hmm..." the boy whispered and nuzzled Zim's neck lovingly. Dib's hands slowly moved to the Irken's stomach and gently began to stroke his hands over Zim's sides, his chest and all over his torso.

"...Your skin is so soft...! It's very nice..."

Now with the human's arms around him, Zim tensed slightly from the sudden contact, but quickly relaxed again.

"Uhh... T-Thanks?" He cautiously replied to the compliments he had just received, not sure whether he was meant to reply or not. It was always in these cuddle moments that Zim didn't know what to say... About a million words rushed through his head, but when it came to actually speaking, well, that's when it became a problem.

Everywhere which Dib's hands touched his torso, it left little tingly sensations for a few seconds before calming again. Even through his slight embarrassment, a small smile crept on the Irken's face and his blush died down even more.

His purr had silenced awhile ago, but from all the nice caressing, it soon returned to its usual volume. This time, Zim let it stay without any additional embarrassment being caused from it.

"Heh, yeah... purr for your Dib-pet... it always makes me want... to touch you more." One hand on the Irken's chest, Dib felt that strange vibration inside Zim.

The boy wasn't so nervous anymore, so his voice didn't shook at all and rather stayed at its low and soft sound.

"You're very welcome," he simply replied and began to brush his lips against the crook of Zim's neck, one side then the other... before he affectionately licked the green skin all along the Irken's shoulders to his neck and back.

While doing this, Dib pressed himself flush against the other from behind; his member got squeezed a bit, but he ignored that. Between every short lick, Dib paused and closed eyes, smelling his Irken's scent, which got stronger by every passing minute...

Every time, it caused a small shudder for the boy, before he continued with his licks and attentively listened to every little sound Zim made.

At least Zim knew that he was in fact meant to reply, that much was proven by Dib's response.

To begin with, all that the Irken could feel was a cold chill, which seemed to stay for quite some time. Despite how warm he felt, he still somehow felt rather cold at the same time. But that soon changed as the human's tongue came into contact with his skin.

Letting out a quiet gasp, Zim straightened up his back slightly as if to get more of the feeling which flooded through his body from that one simple action. The cold instantly left and was replaced with a heating feeling in his chest.

Eyes going half-lidded, Zim's breathing picked up in rate ever so slightly, along with the purr which Dib seemed to like so much. After awhile, an extremely quiet moan could be heard, which caused the fading blush to return on the Irken's face.

All of Zim's audible reactions were noticed by Dib, who picked his ears for those quite precious sounds. And... was that something like a... moan? Yeah. Combined with the soft purring it sounded odd, but good! Dib never heard it like that, it was so... unlike Zim.

Well, Dib behaved rather 'unlike' himself just minutes ago... Dib really liked this new side of Zim. He wanted more of it. As he saw, that the Irken's antennae were already limply hanging down, right before his eyes, Dib knew how relaxed the other was. If that wasn't a good sign!

Taking that as a motive, he took hold of one feeler and lightly grazed his nails over the surface when his hand moved upwards towards the tip, not touching it, while he used just three finger to gently stroke the stalk in an downward motion. He did that several times while his other hand firmly massaged Zim's side up and down.

Soon, Dib became really aroused and whispered with a rather sensual voice: "...s-seems that my beloved Zimmy... l-likes his pets... little endearment..."

Zim was actually quite shocked himself by the noise he just made. Instantly biting his lower lip to stop anymore of those sounds, grabbed hold of the sheets which were in front of him as if to try and remove some of the pleasant sensations he was experiencing at that moment.

It didn't show much effect though, no more moans were heard, granted, but his purring only increased in volume even more at the sudden contact of the human's fingers on his antenna.

Now Zim's mouth was hanging half open and eyes looking rather distant. Despite all that, he managed a nod in reply to Dib's statement. It was only then he remembered how exposed the human was... and how close he was to him.

Instantly tensing slightly, Zim's hands now began to shake ever so slightly. He wasn't scared in any shape or form, but still was slightly embarrassed by that fact.

At seeing the shaking hands, even a bit, Dib tried to calm Zim down some more. "Try to relax... just... l-let it overflow you, Zimmy... what you're f-feeling right now." The boy grabbed Zim's hands and neatly placed them on the Irken's lap

"Heh, y-you can use m-my hand... instead of the sheets... I hope t-this helps." Dib let go of the feeler and did the same treatment to the other one of Zim's precious, delicate stalks. Now, Dib began to tremble himself a bit, in anticipation of... something. He didn't know what that was, but it excited him greatly.

"I-I... love you, Zim... you make me feel so good... a-and I just w-want to give you the same feelings I get... w-when I'm with you, when you're close to me... and w-when you touched me... l-like before."

With that being said, Dib began to graze his teeth at Zim's neck and gently nibbled all around that area, tasting the overly soft skin there.

"...You're perfect... you're unique... I-I love you d-dearly a-and... I wanna s-show you how much... Zim..." Dib mumbled, more serious now, before he continued his little bites and licks, while he protectively intertwined all of Zims six fingers with his own and fondled with the feeler.

Taking Dib's suggestion, Zim forgot completely about the sheets and instead squeezed tightly onto the other's hand. It actually helped a lot more than he thought it originally would. He loosened his grip around the hand when he felt the other's hand leave his antenna, but only to grab at it again once his other feeler got the same attention as the original one did.

Zim gritted his teeth in a half smile, half grimace. He tried to take Dib's advice, but relaxing wasn't exactly easy at that moment in time... Especially at noticing Dib shake slightly too.

"A-And... And Zim l-loves you t-too Dib-pet..." He managed, before another moan made an entrance caused by the biting and the licking from the human.

Zim instantly let go of the other's hand with one of his own, and clamped it to his own mouth, to stop anymore noises. Even though he clearly remembered Dib saying he wanted to 'hear those noises' from him, he still found it... almost frightening at how he could actually make those sounds.

He'd heard the human make them, sure, but from him... it... it just didn't sound right. Like it wasn't him making them.

Hearing the moan, Dib stopped his working mouth and looked up to the hand on the other's mouth. "Didn't expect such... nice sounds coming from you, huh? I-I know how new this is all for you.. f-for me too! But, s-since we're mates now... we should get used to... this. To all the weird feelings we get from each other... I really like every little sound you make..."

Dib let go of the antenna and removed Zim's hands from his mouth. Suddenly, his confidence got somehow boosted by the intensity of Zim's scent he was giving off. Surely, that was a good sign, so after he re-united Zim's hand in his lap again, Dib rubbed both of Zim's sides again with slightly shaking hands.

He gently stroked up and down, several times. And each time, his hands got lower... Taking a deep breath, Dib's hands wandered to Zim's hips, before they slowly opened the belt of the Irken's black jeans, whilst speaking. "Z-Zim... y-you're... you're so addicting..." The boy whined, and gave Zim's jawline a long lick.

Dib didn't want to force his mate to anything, THAT much rational brain was still left. "...I-I will s-stop, if y-you don't w-want this..."

Once his hands were done, they rested on Zim's stomach, as if awaiting permission. Unsure and curious... just like Dib was.

Once the antenna was free, Zim let out a slight sigh of either relief, or disappointment... Even he couldn't tell. Either way, it was a sigh and there was no denying that! He blinked a few times to get rid of the slight blurry view he had gotten over the past minute or so, whilst watching Dib move his hand back to his lap.

Zim's breathing was still a bit heavier and quicker than usual, but not by much... Barely noticeable to be honest. From the rubbing which followed soon after, it was then that he noticed the human's shaking hands... Whether that was from nerves or getting those 'feelings' back, he wasn't sure... But he noticed them as clear as day.

It was only now that Zim began to relax, since it was always much easier to when it was just simple affectionate touches such as this. As he was about to shut his eyes, he instantly stopped, jerked slightly and opened his eyes.

Looking down, he saw that the other was undoing the belt... Even though Zim knew he wasn't just doing it to show off, he still couldn't help but think: 'show off...' He was still pretty annoyed at how easy the other made it look. Yet, at how slow he was undoing it... it made something inside Zim heat up greatly... And that only increased at the following lick.

At hearing Dib's shaky voice once again, the Irken knew that it wasn't just a statement... It was also a question. Shaking his head slowly, he replied. "N-No... I-It's only f-fair... I-I've already seen y-you... A-And you seemed s-so embarrassed... S-So... I-It's fine..." He assured, blush increasing to the maximum once again.

Although he hoped for that answer, Dib still couldn't believe what he was about to do... For quite a while now, since he began to cuddle with Zim, he always wanted to know, how the Irken looked fully naked, but that question seemed to be too weird to him, so the boy set it in the back of his mind. But now... well, now they were even more than just 'cuddling'. And Dib was about to... explore his mate more... That thought boosted his curiosity and even more... his lust.

"...O-Okay... I'll b-be as gentle as p-possible..."

After he gave Zim an reassuring kiss on his cheek, Dib gulped before he opened the button and very slowly slid his slightly trembling hands down... right between Zim's legs. Well, Zim didn't wear any kind of underwear, he already guessed that, since the 'moment' in the changing room. So his hands first felt nothing but skin, which was much warmer than the rest of Zim.

When his hands moved down a bit more, his fingertips brushed over something else. Something... like an opening, maybe like a shell. Dib let out a quiet gasp of surprise, while his breath got heavier. He nuzzled more into Zim's neck, when some of his fingertips, eagerly but still carefully, slid into that shell and... suddenly felt a small pointy 'thing' inside of it.

At that, Dib tensed and blushed greatly.

Could it be...? That maybe, Zim's anatomy, his organ 'down there', wasn't that different from his own? Out of instinct, one hand stroked ever so slightly against the rim of that 'shell', while the other one pressed three fingers on that tip.

"Zim... a-are you okay... s-so far? H-How d-does it f-feel?"

At the quick kiss to his cheek, Zim's embarrassment left slightly, but his nervousness remained as strong as ever. It was happening... He was letting Dib know what was 'down there'... And it still seemed so unreal. Feeling the human's curious hands move beneath his jeans, Zim instantly froze solid and felt a ghostly chill go down his spine. That be from fear or nerves, it would remain a mystery.

Yet that didn't last long, since soon he began to shake slightly as the other's hands roamed around in 'that' area... Whining slightly, he began to curl his toes, inside his boots, from the foreign sensation. None of their previous 'moments' had caused this much worry to become present, but neither... pleasure. And doubted it ever would... Zim's breathing picked up even more, so now it sounded more like quiet pants compared to regular breathing.

Gritting his teeth as the human's fingers seemed to find what they were looking for, he shut his eyes tight and held back a moan. As much as he remembered Dib's noises when he felt around his 'thing', he didn't want the same sounds coming from him. Thinking that's all that the other wanted to know, Zim was shocked to feel the human's fingers sliding inside of him... Yet, to only build on that shock, something... inside of him felt DIB! ...As if... Something was inside him.

Not many Irkens knew how their bodies worked, or how they looked like inside, since they were all trained in military skills and invading different planets from creation; or birth as the humans called it. And, to no-one's surprise, it was forbidden to investigate... So, Zim didn't know much either. So, was just as shocked as Dib was.

Gasping, a strong moan escaped his mouth and his entire body felt as if it was on fire. Especially down there... Subconsciously, Zim began to move his legs around slightly, as if to avoid the feeling which was building up inside him. This almost brought the same amount of light-headedness as antenna touching did, so Zim almost missed Dib's question.

"Z-Zim's fine...-" He paused for a moment as a quiet moan could be heard. "-I-It feels... W-Weird... B-But nice... Extremely n-nice..." He admitted, gasping again as a volt of... something, went up his spine.

Dib could only smile at Zim's reaction, since he knew how the other must feeling in that moment. "Y-Yeah... I-I know... what y-you mean..." He guessed Zim was never been touched there before. Apparently, both were totally new to this, being a virgin.

When he heard that one rather loud moan coming from Zim's trembling form, Dib slid his fingers further into the Irken... Suddenly, he felt a tiny movement there and soon felt the rim of Zim's 'opening' getting slightly wet. With his other hand, he eagerly rubbed against that thing inside of it and noticed how it got bigger, like it was a growing plant, leaving its seed.

"...Zim... d-do you even k-know... about t-that part of... y-your body...?" The boy couldn't help but ask, since the Irken seemed even more surprised than Dib was.

Hearing Dib's question, Zim's blush only grew, if that was even possible, and opened his eyes slightly. Bowing his head in slight shame, slowly shook his head. Answering was tough, due to the constant groans he emitted every now and then.

"N-No... Irkens a-are only trained in c-combat a-and invading...-" He paused to groan slightly, grabbing hold of the sheets beside him. "-I-It's forbidden... N-No-one is a-allowed to experiment-" Groan "-N-Nor ask high ranked s-scientists..." Zim explained, squirming slightly as Dib's fingers entered further.

It had hurt ever so slightly to begin with, but now he had sort of... adjusted. Plus, the odd liquid which seemed to have become present was... helping, in some weird way.

"I-Is... that b-bad?" He asked his usual question, feeling quite ashamed of himself; not knowing about his own body.

"N-No... No w-way!... It's o-okay, r-really... Y-You d-don't be embarrassed about that, Zim... T-To be honest... umm... well, I-I... t-touched myself... d-down there... j-just one t-time."

It was not easy to admit something delicate like that, but Dib hoped it would help his mate to calm down a bit, knowing it was a 'prime event' for both of them.

"I... didn't know o-of my own body until... until y-you... explored it b-before..." Dib was panting quite heavily now, due to all the things his fingers were doing to the Irken. "S-So... we're both n-new... to this."

After he gave Zim's neck several brief pecks and pressed himself more against the other, Dib removed one hand, covered in some strange juices, and rested it on Zim's stomach. One hand was enough for his mate for now; Dib didn't want to 'overpower' his Irken too much.

When his fingers rubbed against the thing inside Zim, it soon grew even more.

"Wow, i-it's growing... j-just like mine," he whispered, more to himself, in fascination. Dib brushed his fingertips over the wet surface of Zim's '-ness'. Now it was about to slowly leave its protective shell... The boy let go of it and gently rubbed against the moist flesh of Zim's inner walls.

"...Oh, Zim... y-you're getting... s-so wet. Heh, I-I like it..." Dib mumbled, more confident now and nuzzled Zim's cheek. "S-Seems you're... r-really enjoying it... good."

Zim tried his best to stay focused on what Dib was saying, but the almost burning pleasure he was feeling was clouding his hearing and even what he did hear, none of it made sense since his brain felt like it was numb. Even though the other seemed embarrassed by his first admitting, Zim was shocked, yes, but more confused than anything.

"Y-You humans... a-are l-lucky... You c-can do w-whatever y-you wish w-with no-one t-to stop you... H-Hardly anything is f-forbidden..." He admitted, now jealous about Earth's lack of limitations.

On Irk, the first things which smeets were taught were the rules of Irken life... No such thing as Skool or education... Nope. Straight into training. That was always something which puzzled Zim when he first arrived. How he always saw human children out playing, or at Skool, or not holding any kind of weapon... Not even a small dagger or something simple such as that!

Yet now he knew.

Earth was a lot less strict with what their young do... Kind of stupid in Zim's opinion.

These thoughts were shattered as his neck received a few small kisses and felt Dib remove one hand from that certain place. Looking down at his stomach, Zim's brain-dead face soon turned into a slight disgusted frown. On the human's hand, was a strange gloopy substance. And from what the other had last said... it seemed it had come from him! He had made that!? Zim's eyes widened slightly as he cautiously lifted a hand and placed a finger on the goo.

"T-That... c-came from m-me?" He asked, curious, but also kind of scared... He didn't know his body could do that! But this puzzlement was short-lived, as soon he felt something else... Something -apart from Dib's hand- was... moving 'down there'... Letting out one last groan from the human's moving fingers, Zim was now really wondering what was actually happening.

So, after a moment or so of mental debating, moved his hands to the waistband of his jeans, and pulled them down slightly to see. The sight which met his eyes was something for sure! Dib's fingers... uh... inside... well, yeah. But something completely new was becoming present... Something Zim had never seen before was coming out... of HIM! It wasn't even his skin colour! Not at all... It was a red-ish-pinky colour... and resembled his tongue in some strange way...

But, from the... place, it was in... it seemed like he had the same thing which the human had. He wanted answers... And now.

"D-Dib... W-What... i-is that?" He asked in an almost fearful tone, too worried to attach any nickname of any sort. Zim knew Dib probably wouldn't know, since he was a human, not an Irken... But still, thought it best to ask someone. Anyone.

Listening carefully to all of Zim's words, Dib now was really sorry for Zim about all the restrictions and things, which were considered 'wrong'. Especially knowing about your own body... 'poor Zim...' was all he could think.

When he noticed Zim's scared request, Dib immediately looked down, between the Irken's legs, where he saw it... Curiously, Dib trailed one single finger over the ridged surface of 'it'. When he noticed Zim began to tremble, he removed his hand for now and lightly cradled him.

"Shh, c-calm down, Zim... please." Giving the Irken's cheek another peck, he tried to explain. "I-I think you... got the same t-thing like I do, down there... Umm, w-we humans call it a... p-penis. All male ones have it and now... heh, it looks like we found out t-that you got a s-similar organ."

Staring down at Zim's member, he almost chuckled.

"It's weird but... i-it looks... like your tongue. It's long a-and... ridged and wet... In s-some kind of... protective shell. And a-apparently y-you're producing some... well, juices too."

Moving his wet hand, Dib felt around the substance with his fingers.

"S-So you don't h-have to be scared, Z-Zim. W-We both found out... something new... about e-each other"

Since Zim was still rather tense, Dib pressed him more to his heated body and began to hum the same slow melody, he used back in the voot when they watched the beautiful view together. Quietly at first, it soon became louder, until Dib rested his head on Zim's shoulder and closed his eyes, hoping it would help to calm the Irken's, and his own, nerves...

For what seemed like the longest time, all Zim did was stare at his new discovery. In all honestly, he didn't know that to do, think, say or feel about... well, this! It basically was just like growing a new head or arm, but obviously not that extreme. But still... it was something new and interesting.

Yet, only after a few moments, Zim noticed Dib's hand move towards this 'thing'... Almost as soon as the other's finger came into contact with it, a few kind of heat became present in his body. It tingled slightly, but caused a pleasant feeling too. Weird...

"Zim d-doesn't like this... THING!... I-It feels weird... L-Looks weird... I-It... It just IS weird! And... and not right..." He mumbled, still disgusted by the fact that he had -as the human had said- a penis, but never even knew about it! Maybe this was why it was forbidden... since it would cause distress? Zim didn't know.

Some of his worries got lessened as he was pulled closer to Dib, and heard the familiar tune... Turning his head to face the open window, tried to imagine the sunset was there again, but no, it was still early and no such thing would become present until this evening.

Sighing slightly, Zim let himself relax, and leaned against the other, a small smile visible on his face. Well... there wasn't much point panicking about it, since apparently all human males had one... And so did Irken males... Well, he guessed so... _Hoped so! _Ugh... His thoughts were swirling around again!

"S-So... I-It is n-normal? Right?"

Stopping his humming, Dib quickly assured: "W-Well, yeah... At least for humans it's normal and... s-since you got one too, I guess it's also normal for all male Irkens..."

But to say the least, Dib was kinda disappointed when he heard Zim's disapproving words. Zim really shouldn't be like this about his own body.

"S-So, please... don't think of it as a bad thing, Z-Zim. It's a part of your body. A-And it's totally right to... e-explore your body, especially... the m-most sensitive part of it."

Again, Dib's hand travelled down between Zim's legs, but stopped right before the other's half-erected member. Now trying to convince Zim that it was indeed a 'nice' part of his body, Dib quickly changed his voice into a more seductive one. So, flicking on of Zim's antennas with his tongue, he whispered into it.

"Besides... y-you made some really nice sounds... when I touched your 'thing'. So I know you've... enjoyed m-my fingers down there, Zimmy..." Strange, that Dib was most confident when he spoke it such a voice.

It was funny really, how Dib was saying the exact opposite to what the control brain had told him all that time ago when he was a smeet... How Dib was saying it was right, when the empire said it was wrong... Heh, funny, but also confusing...

Just proved how different their species thoughts and laws were towards their people. It was difficult to say who was correct... The people he had known forever and obeyed, yet had abandoned him. Or... the person he... loved, who cared for him and brought all these happy thoughts and feelings, yet, had been trying to kill for a few years.

Ugh... **Life was sometimes so complex! **

Suddenly, Zim felt a warm hand close to that 'area' again, causing him to squirm slightly. And that only increased at hearing Dib's tone and his antennae being flicked once again. Biting his lower lip, Zim shuddered slightly before managing a reply.

"T-That's... true... B-But, so d-did you... when I-I touched your... thingy..." He admitted, blush increasing at every word.

Well, Dib didn't expect the last part of Zim's reply, causing him to blush himself. But hey, it was so true...

"Umm... y-yeah. I just c-couldn't help myself. Y-Your hand on my... heh, on my 'thingy'. It f-felt really... weird. But so g-good."

That thought strangely turned him slightly on, so Dib moved his hand carefully towards Zim's thingy... and began to rub it at the base.

"Mmmm... a-and now you know... h-how it feels like... being touched there." A hot rush of... desire suddenly flooded the boy again, so his feisty hand slowly wandered up and down the Irken's member, while Dib watched how it grew more and more in his hand. Unconsciously rubbing against his mate, Dib got a weird idea and mumbled, "...m-maybe, we s-should get rid... of y-your pants."

Whining slightly out of lust, he added whispering. "I... w-want to see... ALL of m-my precious mate... in all h-his glory... please..."

Listening to Dib speak, basically explaining the previous event, Zim couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He guessed all that from the way the human had reacted from that one simple touch.

"I guessed t-" He began, but got cut of by a sudden, and unexpected moan. A completely new sensation was coursing through Zim's body... One that he hadn't of expected. Looking down to Dib's hand, he was greeted by the sight of the other doing the exact same treatment as he had given the human before. So... this is what it felt like.

Closing his eyes, the Irken felt a wave of heat hit him, as well as a knotting in his stomach. It sure as heck wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite. An extreme tingling sensation became present where Dib's hand touched. Zim just about heard Dib's suggestion, and as soon as he did, his face instantly felt like it was on fire.

Well... Fair was fair... He'd already seen Dib fully exposed. So, he guessed it was his turn. And that 'please' which followed, sounded almost begging. Moaning for a second time, Zim opened his eyes, though it was quite a struggle, and looked down at his jeans.

Gulping slightly, kicked off his boots first, before reaching for the waistband once again. Pausing for a moment, took a breath in, before sliding the jeans down further, before kicking them off too, leaving him completely exposed, just as Dib was.

As soon as Dib heard the first moan, his hand slowed down a bit and he closed his eyes in delight. But that changed, when he heard a rustling sound. Opening his eyes again, Dib gasped quietly and mustered Zim's naked form from his position...

"Wow..." he whispered in awe. "Zim, y-you're... gorgeous!" Now he also saw the Irken's member better... which stiffened even more at his strokes. Dib's eyes widened slightly at the sight.

Blushing, he stuttered. "A-And your... 'thing', its... well, i-it's quite big..."

'_It really looks like... a thicker version of... Zim's snake-like, flexible... wet tongue! Oh boy..._' Dib couldn't deny that turned him on like crazy, seeing his Irken all naked now and Zim's... member... standing at attention... and what a member!

Stroking it a bit faster now, Dib got an even weirder idea, since Zim's 'thing' resembled the Irken's own tongue and... well, Dib got a tongue too and... they already kissed... with their tongues involved...

Dib licked his lips and mumbled: "...a-and I love y-your moans, Zimmy... Hell, and you're t-turning me on... s-so much!" Remembering Zim's usual worries, he quickly added. "T-That's good. Very g-good actually... It gives me... t-that weird happy f-feelings."

Zim would have been extremely embarrassed at that moment, and he was, but just not as much as he thought he would be. He thought that if he ever was in this situation, in front of another being, he'd just want to die there and then. To sink into the ground. To get swallowed by a vortex. Anything which would just get him out of the picture. Yet now... He didn't feel like any of those things... Maybe it was the fact that Dib was in the same exposed situation, or maybe the fact he was too brain-dead to care. Either way, it was a good sign.

He didn't mind at all. And this only increased as Zim heard Dib's compliment. Yet it also caused a chill to go down his spine, knowing that the other had seen him like this...

The only thing he had on now was his PAK, and that was technically part of him, so he guessed that didn't really count...

Hearing the comment about his 'thing', Zim's eyes widened slightly and looked down... "Hmm... T-That's true... M-Mayb- Nngh..." He began, but stopped at the increased speed of Dib's rubs.

Now panting, Zim felt his tongue hang out of his half open mouth, but really couldn't care less. He was already in a state, so nothing would really feel 'weird' at this moment in time. "D-Dib...~" Zim breathed out, bowing his head and scrunching his eyes shut. Not in shame, but from the overwhelming feelings that was hitting him every second or so.

It was weird, how all of Zim's reactions reminded Dib of his own ones, just a few minutes ago. The slight shaking... The squirming... The overheated body... And especially the sounds Zim was making! His panting and moans... To say the least, it affected the boy very much. Obviously, they were not so different at all... when it comes to intimate things... like this. Well, both of them were 'newbies' at this.

However, Dib's thoughts soon stopped when he heard Zim speak his name between his pants... It was the first time the Irken said his name like that. So... desperate and... lustful! It was amazing... this whole moment. He made Zim make such sounds!

Feeling rather dizzy now, Dib began to shake slightly himself, so he hastily grabbed Zim's hands, which gripped to the sheets again. For both their reassurance, Dib tightly gripped their three hands together, into a trembling ball of fingers.

"T-Take my hand... and squeeze it a-as hard as y-you want, i-if that helps..." Dib's hand slowed down a bit, as it stroked only the upper half of Zim's shaft. Every so often, the boy rubbed a single finger over the tip.

Panting, as he tried to stay focused on his 'task', Dib just mumbled: "...I... l-love you, Z-Zimmy... d-don't forget... t-that..."

Being extremely thankful for the other's suggestion, Zim happily squeezed Dib's hand, which relieved some of the power of the feeling which he was experiencing.

It was strange... Since it felt like his body was melting from how warm he felt, but the room's temperature was average, and the open window was causing a slight wind to blow past them now and then. So, 'why' was the question.

But for now, he wasn't going to question it, especially when hearing those few special words.

"A-And I l-love you t-too, Dib-pet..." Zim managed between pants, before groaning as he felt a human finger brush against the tip of his newly discovered... 'thingy'. Suddenly, a strange feeling settled inside Zim's stomach... It was different from the others... Weird. Clenching his teeth in a half smile, half frown, Zim began to shiver every few seconds.

"Nyah~ D-Dib-pet... Z-Zim feels funny..." He whispered, before another moan escaped his mouth. Removing one hand from Dib's one, placed it on his lower stomach, where the weird sensation was happening.

"W-What... is it...?"


	44. Chapter 44

**Yay! More 'Hand Combat'... And a new number on the Smexy_o-meter xD**

When Dib felt the Irken take his hand and squeezing it so tight, he squeezed back not less tight. He knew how Zim was feeling in that very moment. And he loved it... Zim was so warm, like coming out of an oven. The other's shaking was another sign for how strong the good feelings were. And Dib was the reason for them. Zim's member was so fascinating to feel, so his hand slowed down, to feel every ridge of it.

When his Irken said those few special words back, in that forced voice... Dib whined quietly and almost squealed out of joy. Oh how he loved his mate! His sexy, naked Zimmy.

After some more seconds, Dib heard the other's last thing he said... and instantly stopped his hand. He looked to Zim's moved hand... A new, 'funny' feeling, down there, in his lower stomach? It hit him like a rock... Zim was about to... to cum.

"Oh!..." was the boys first reaction. Of course, since... he was pleasuring Zim, using his hand and stuff. After some moments, he smiled and took a deep breath, before he settled down and nuzzled Zim lovingly, whispering back in a soothing voice. His free hand crawled under Zim's one on his stomach and pressed gently on it.

"W-Well, I know what t-that is... remember b-before when... umm I s-said stop or I w-would 'come'...? I-I... was feeling the same, l-like you do now, Zimmy... It' a very g-good feeling, b-but..." His voice cracked a bit. "-...I o-only w-wanted to stop b-because... I thought y-you would... b-be disgusted o-or scared. Because...w-when it happens a-a liquid w-will literally s-shoot... out of y-your 'thing'. It's... y-your... your sperm... you know, t-to f-fertilize..."

Whining again, Dib pressed himself even more into Zim, a little sideways beside the PAK. And soon, his voice turned into a seducing one, still whispering. Suddenly he wanted Zim to cum, to experience an orgasm. "...Oh, Z-Zim... n-now you're feeling that t-too... It will b-be like a mini e-explosion in your body..."

Running two fingers teasingly over the tip of Zim's member, Dib grinned as he saw that some pre-cum was dripping down. Actually, the whole 'thing' was wet and covered in slicky juices.

"...It's c-called an orgasm, Zimmy..." he whispered. "...Sooo... d-do you want me... t-to continue, until..." he left his sentence unfinished and instead caught the tip of one antenna, since they were hanging temptingly before his eyes all the time. Dib lightly bit on the feathery tip, before he quickly gave it a soothing lick, as if to apologize. Zim tasted sooo... goddamn sweet, it was crazy!

Zim listened closely to all that Dib had to say, all the while focusing on the strange sensation he was experiencing. At that moment, it felt like Dib was a teacher... explaining what was happening. It was slightly scary, since he'd never felt like this before, but also interesting, since he was learning something new about himself... and Dib in some strange way. Since, apparently, this is what the human had felt before, when he almost literally begged for Zim to stop touching his... 'thingy'.

Yeah, he remembered some type of watery substance had been running down the other's member, and stuttering quite badly about how he was going to 'come'... At the time it hadn't meant anything... Just another human term for something... And that he just had to stop, because Dib had asked him to... But now he knew why exactly... The other didn't want to scare him at the time. Yet, at the continued explanation, at what happens when someone... well, yeah...

Zim looked down at his 'thing' as if it was a timer bomb, ticking down from 5 seconds. Obviously it wasn't, but now he was slightly cautious about... whatever this was which Dib was explaining. And this cautiousness only increased at the mention of an explosion. Obviously the other was meaning this in a good way, but to Zim, this 'thing' was sounding more and more like a bomb... a strange, sensitive one.

These worries got pushed aside as he felt the human's fingers on that sensitive part once again. Clenching his teeth together, a loud groan could be heard as Zim began to curl and uncurl his toes as the feeling in his lower stomach only grew stronger. Not only that, but a shudder made an entrance as he felt another strange sensation became present, this time on his member. Looking down, he saw the same thing which he saw on Dib's member when he had asked for him to stop... The same liquid.

It felt like his brain was just shutting off as the heat which engulfed his body grew until it felt like he was just going to melt. He just about heard the human's last sentence before all rational thinking turned off, as his antenna got attention once again. "D-D-DIB!" Zim literally yelled as he scrunched his eyes shut tightly.

He wanted to answer the other's question, he really did, but the power of the feeling rushing through his body was turning all words which he tried into slurred groans.

Dib watched how Zim's member got even wetter when more and more of that liquid was dripping down. Now he saw that it was kinda... blue-ish, not really white. And it was warm, when it covered Dib's working hand...

Suddenly, he jerked slightly, when Zim cried out his name. His eyes widened in shock, but soon got-half lidden again. If Dib didn't know better, he would say that Zim was in pain, but no... Totally the opposite. Squeezing Zim's hand as tight as possible, Dib changed his kneading position, so his legs were now stretched out beside the Irken ones.

Releasing the feeler, he said: "Yes, Z-Zim... Yes, I-I'm here... Y-Your Dib-pet is r-right here!" Well, that was pretty obvious. But... Dib just wanted to say something reassuring. Something... helpful. Since Zim sounded so... well, overwhelmed. His Irken mate was now trembling rather strong in his arms and got really hot. Well, this was also an answer, so the boy took that as a 'yes'.

Dib removed his two teasing fingers, before he engulfed Zim's member with his whole hand. Then he moved it up and down the whole length... slowly first, but speeding up quickly. All the while, Dib was talking to Zim in a soft, caring voice. "...Zimmy, I l-love y-you! ... J-Just let... the f-feeling overflow you...enjoy i-it... cry and m-moan... t-this will help...-" He gave Zim tiny little kisses on his neck and his cheeks, while his hand now stroked the Irken's 'thing' pretty fast now, which was easy, due to all the juices Zim was leaking...

Giving the tip on the feeler one last lick, Dib whispered in a sultry voice. "...C-Come... for y-your Dib-pet, Z-Zimmy..." Squeezing Zim's member now and then, he slightly tightened his grip on it and sporadically rubbed his thumb over the tip.

Now that his antennae was free, Zim's brain came back to life slightly. His mind didn't seem so much like goo, and now he could actually form words. Admittedly, his body still felt like it was on fire and as useless as a bag of potatoes, but at least he could think again!

Noticing Dib's change of position, Zim turned his head to look at the other, and noticed a reassuring smile, as well as the calming words and tone. Returning the smile, Zim returned his gaze back to what the human was doing. The increased speed caused another groan, as well as a shudder; though it didn't make much difference, since he was already shaking quite badly.

Never in his life, would Zim have guessed that this was what would happen between the two of them... Once enemies, once friends, once special friends... and now mates. Taking the whole cuddling thing to the extreme...

Ugh, he'd hate to see the Tallest's reaction if they ever found out what was happening between them now. Actually... now he thought about it... he didn't care what they thought... or anyone else. Who were they to judge him or Dib? No-one... Strange how things turn out... heh, but then again, that had been mentioned before many times.

The strange feeling in his lower stomach was now at the maximum... If Zim didn't know what it was, he'd be panicking like mad, but since Dib had explained, there was no need. Hearing the human's final request, a chill went down Zim's spine, but so did a strange, yet strong, tingle. Eyes now scrunched shut, he felt a sudden urge to... to let go of something. He didn't know what of though... Nothing physical. After a few more moments, the increased speed, the small lick to his antennae, the tone in the other's voice and the small kisses pushed the Irken over his limit.

Shouting out, an unexplainable sensation smashed against Zim's body. The pinching feeling in his stomach lessened and, as told by Dib, a liquid did leave his 'thingy'.

Instantly going limp, he fell back against the human, panting heavily, eyes closed, focusing on the waves flowing through his body.

After his last, almost demanding words, Dib silently let his hand do the 'work', while listened to the nice sounds Zim made. His forced groans, a whine here and there, his moans. Knowing why the Irken was making these sounds, Dib felt incredible happy, since he knew HE was the reason for these sweet noises. So he was shuddering too, out of joy. But that was nothing compared to Zim's trembling and squirming, which got more stronger, the more Dib pleasured him...

Soon after he'd gave the feeler that last swift lick -Dib was still savouring the sweet taste on his tongue- he suddenly heard a loud shout.

Opening his eyes in slight shock, Dib watched how... how Zim's member literally exploded... In that moment, the same blue-ish liquid, the Irken's semen, shot several inches high out of the tip of Zim's 'thing'. In several boosts. It really was like a mini volcano.

'Wow...'

Some of it covered Dib's hand, while the rest landed on the sheets and on Zim's stomach... It was warm and... blue, but translucent. It fascinated the boy in a weird way... But he was taken out of his thoughts, when he felt Zim slumping against him. Well, he was obviously worn out, regarding his heavy pants. Zim would have to clean himself anyway, so Dib now used both of his hands, one covered in Zim's... 'stuff', and wrapped tightly around his mate.

For once, Dib didn't say anything and just enjoyed this very special moment and letting Zim recover from his state and feeling all the different sensations rolling though his small, green body. Listening to Zim's pants with closed eyes, Dib began to play footsie with the Irken after awhile. A content sigh escaped the happy human boy, as he rested his head on the other's shoulder...

He still couldn't really believe what just happened. Zim... his mate... which he loved... He touched him... until the Irken had an... an orgasm...! And he felt so good, knowing he showed Zim how his body worked, what the Irken was actually able to feel... that he gave Zim all this good feelings during their 'session'. It wasn't really just a 'moment' for Dib, no... Here they sat, both naked, tightly pressed against the other; after they'd touched each other in such an intimate way... and after Zim had experienced probably the most intense feeling his body could muster... Dib loved his wonderful Irken mate more and more. It ached, but in a good way!

Never in his life had Zim felt so relaxed, calm, warm, confused and exhausted... all at one moment! The waves which were hitting him every now and then were more than welcome, but ever so slowly they were fading, and after a minute or so, they were gone. Yet, the light-headedness remained, along with his calm mood and heavy pants.

For whatever reason, it felt like his throat had become tighter, and his body felt so light... Well, whatever it was, it was extremely pleasant.

"S-So..."

Looking down at his member, there was a clear blue-ish liquid dripping from it, and it was also on Dib's sheets and hand... Plus on the Irken's stomach. Was that what the strange feeling in his stomach was...? Making a slight disgusting face, he let out a breath he was holding to try and steady his breathing rate.

"...T-That's what m-mates d-do..?" Zim finished, chuckling slightly.

Somehow, he felt extremely happy, and only slightly embarrassed. His blush remained, yeah, but that was mainly from the heat he was experiencing. The throbbing in his 'thing' which was present before, was also fading.

"I-I... can't b-believe we d-did... that..." He admitted, changing his gaze to Dib's face, who's eyes were closed with a content smile on his face.

Now he understood why the human didn't want that to happen to him without a warning of some kind... Because, Zim probably would be quite scared if he saw that... not for himself, but for Dib. Heh, he'd probably think he was going to explode or something. Well... it was kind of... but only... not exploding as in guts and flesh going zooming off into opposite directions and onto the walls and floor... Nope. More like... uh, an explosion 'down there' of, as Dib had called it, sperm... Weird really.

Another thought had buried itself into Zim's mind... Now that, that... blue stuff was out of him... would his 'thing' go...? After all, it hadn't been like that before... Looking back down, his member was no longer at attention, but still there. Sighing, the Irken looked at Dib's sheets... now covered in his 'stuff'. "Uhh... S-Sorry about t-that..."

Dib wouldn't mind staying like this for hours... Listening to Zim's pants and the nice heat he was still radiating. At the words Zim was saying, his smile only got bigger.

"Heh, y-yeah... it's hard t-to believe... yet, it happened... which I'm veeery glad for..."

Opening his eyes, Dib watched how Zim's member got smaller again, and after a minute or so, it was almost completely gone, hiding in this strange 'protective shell' between Zim's legs... until the next time. Dib already looked forward to it, but quickly brushed it aside for later use.

As he looked down at his hand, covered in Zim's seed... well, he couldn't help but being quite interested. Lifting his hand, he closely inspected the blue-ish 'stuff' on his fingers. It was still rather warm and gooey. Out of a sudden, strange urge... he slowly brought the hand to his mouth... and cautiously licked at one of his fingers. Just a tiny bit of the substance. Zim's... seed.

To his surprise, it didn't taste bad, no... It was salty, but mostly pretty sweet, in some way... even resembling the taste of Zim's antennas. But with that salty note to it... He didn't really know why he did this. Shouldn't he feel... disgusted? Or at least try to spit out that 'stuff? Well, he didn't, and that slightly scared him.

Absently, he licked again, until the whole finger was licked clean. A voice in his mind was saying, he really shouldn't do this, so, almost ruefully, he took the towel and cleaned his hand, before he noticed some of it on Zim's stomach and wiped that off too.

Blushing greatly, he just hoped Zim hadn't saw what he did just now...

Now looking out the window, it didn't matter that there was no sunset to watch... it was just nice to feel the sun shining down on both of them... And even with that fact in motion, Zim was cooling down gradually. He guessed that the heat was caused by those pleasant feelings from before. Plus, it was nice to feel the slight breeze every now and then.

Suddenly feeling a movement 'down there', Zim checked once again, but this time saw 'that area' returning to how it usually was. Yet, now he doubted it would stay like that... And he wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. Probably good, after all, nothing bad had happened, so probably wouldn't neither. Zim kept staring, as if motivating his 'thing' to disappear faster. And after a moment, it had gone. Mentally cheering, a huge smile appeared on the Irken's face.

Sure, he didn't mind his 'thing' as much as he did to begin with, but still, he wasn't used to it, so was glad he was back to normal. His silent cheering got interrupted as he felt a clothe on his stomach. Instantly looking to what it was, quickly realized it was the human's towel... Oh yeah, he had some of that stuff on him... so did Dib.

"O-Oh... T-Thanks..." Zim mumbled, biting his lower lip from slight embarrassment. But after looking at Dib's face, soon saw that the other seemed way more embarrassed than he was...

"Y-You okay?" He asked, curious to the human's blush's cause.

"Hmm?..." Now panicking slightly, Dib quickly thought about a good answer. "Y-Yeah, I'm... okay. I just thought... umm... h-how... yeah, attractive y-you are." Well, that wasn't really a lie, so Dib calmed down a bit.

To change the subject and remove that worried look on Zim's face. So he released Zim, built a a little tower of pillows (luckily, he got plenty of them lying around in his bed) behind the Irken, gently pressed him into it and crawled in front of him.

Forgetting his 'tasting' from before, he got the sudden wish to see Zim's face, his eyes... his expression, after what they'd did moments ago. Or rather, what HE did to Zim, heh... So Dib just sat there for a minute or so and mustered Zim's body from the front. Wow. The Irken was... even more... yeah, attractive!

Dib's blush returned, but now for another reason. Zim was perfect, handsome... and hot! The way he laid there, still slightly panting and with that exhausted face. And his eyes... two black holes, glistening even so slightly in the mild sun. After his 'inspecting' of the other, Dib greedily crawled on Zim's lap and kissed him passionately.

It was weird, how he still was so... lustful. How he wanted to touch Zim over all his body. Well, he knew why... his half-stiff member was telling it. After all, he didn't 'come' before, so Dib was still somehow... horny. And it didn't help that they were both naked and that Zim was so... 'nice to look at'.

He grabbed Zim's hot cheeks, as he deepened the kiss. Hell, it felt like an eternity since he last kissed his Irken and played with his long, ridged tongue! Dib needed this.

Blush increasing as the other's gaze swept across him, Zim's own gaze copied the exact same thing, only with Dib's body... The one thing which caught his eyes, was the human's member... Oh, he remembered now... The other had stopped him before he... 'came'.

So, if a male didn't let out that gooey stuff... their 'thingy' didn't 'calm down'? Strange, but also somehow logical.

As Dib made his way onto his lap, he somehow expected what happened next. And sure enough, it did. Their lips met once again, and their tongues engaged in another battle. As much as it was expected... he didn't think that their 'moment' would continue after what had just happened. But then again, if Dib's 'thingy' was like that... then he obviously wanted more.

Well, for now, they were both just enjoying their current kiss. Heh... kind of funny how just a few days ago, this would have been considered 'too much'... but now, it was more mild than anything... Especially compared to their previous activity. Zim's blush only increased at that thought.

Once both his and Dib's tongue met in a loose 'hug', Zim saw the chance and instantly wrapped his own around the human's and squeezed slightly. He always liked proving to the other that he could have the dominance he wished, if he got to opportunity. And that's just what he did.

At feeling the strong grip of Zim's 'snake', Dib squirmed in his place and groaned into the kiss. He gladly let Zim take the control and relinquished the feel of the Irken's ridged tongue engulfing his own almost entirely, so it was trapped in place.

Funny how it changed, since moments ago, Dib was the 'active part'. So he thought it was only fair for giving Zim the charge and for Dib being the good Dib-pet for his mate. A muffled whine escaped Dib's mouth, so he removed his hands from Zim's face and placed them on the Irken's chest, where they eagerly roamed around all over Zim's torso.

Dib began to shiver, when his hands brushed over Zim's sides and stomach. God, his skin was sooo soft... The Irken's body really WAS perfect. At least for Dib.

Happy with hearing the whines and groans from Dib, Zim only tightened the grip around the other's tongue, whilst bringing up a hand to brush through the human's hair once again again. Heh, if they both weren't as exposed as they were, it would have been a replay of some of their previous 'cuddle moments'. Yet, this time, after all that had happened since they had woken up, it definitely was different. In a good way, that is.

Feeling Dib's hands move around on his torso, another chill drifted through Zim's body, which caused a small shudder. It was strange... it seemed neither of them was that embarrassed about their current situation anymore... Maybe they were just used to it, or accepting it, either way, it removed some of the awkward tension which had been looming around in the air from before. And Zim was thankful for that.

Even though the room was silent, well apart from a the few noises which came from Dib, it somehow didn't seem it... In some weird way, it seemed noisy, extremely noisy! But then again, that could just be the Irken's thoughts rolling around or the blood which was rushing to his hand. After a moment or two of just staring at the other's eyes, Zim finally shut his own ones and, using his free hand, pulled Dib closer to him.

Noticing the grip on his tongue getting even tighter and feeling the familiar combing claws on his head, Dib couldn't help but letting out a muffled moan, only louder this time, and leaned into the tingling feeling the other's hand created.

He kept looking at Zim's black eyes, but when the other closed them, Dib's shut automatically too, so he now was totally focused on Zim's superior tongue and the feeling of his skin under Dib's palms. And when his Irken pressed his heating body even closer to him, Dib squirmed around in his place and began to tremble slightly. He gripped Zim's sides and made a series of small whines.

He wanted to say Zim's name, to beg, to say how nice this felt. But he didn't want to miss Zim's ridged snake and its almost possessive grip on his own flat one. All he could do was roll it around inside the 'trap', feeling the rigid texture and tasting the Irken's saliva.

It was odd, since now it seemed the roles had been reversed. Since before, Dib was the one causing the noises, whilst Zim was the one making them. But now, Zim was the cause for Dib's noises.

Smirking slightly into the kiss, the Irken began to move his hand which was on the human's back in a rubbing motion, knowing that the other had done that to him loads of times in the past few days and he personally really liked it. So, he hoped Dib would too!

Now mentally searching through other things which had happened before to use now, Zim opened his eyes to look at the human's face. Dib's eyes were shut now also, as well as a pinched expression plastered across his face.

Chuckling slightly, he released the other's tongue and parted their mouths. But before the human could complain, quickly changed so that now he was licking his neck slowly... Also stealing this idea from the past.

Just enjoying every second of their current moment and his position in Zim's arms, while the Irken did 'stuff' to him... It was bliss, even more than before during such cuddling. Dib guessed why, and was glad for that. Glad for what they did... He got the feeling it strengthened their 'intimate bond'. And he loved his Irken mate even more for that. His body, his character... his whole self! However, that inevitable thoughts came to a sudden halt, when Zim broke the kiss. But right in the moment, where the boy wanted to open his eyes and complain, he already a wet serpent on his neck...

Dib's eyes shot open and a surprised gasp escaped his mouth. Soo, his eyes fell half-lidden and the shocked expression turned into a loose, goofy grin.

"Oh... t-that's v-very niiice..." he managed between small pants. Well, he didn't expect that from Zim... and so suddenly. Basking in the feeling on the long, slow licks Zim was doing, Dib titled his head a bit, like before, so the other could taste more of his skin. He really liked that kind of assertiveness coming from his Irken. After some seconds, Dib relaxed more and more, thanks to the massaging hand on his back.

When Zim began to lick more of his neck, he moaned, enjoying... every little lick. "...mmmm, Z-Ziiim... y-you... really know... h-how to...make m-me feel... sooo good..." Now shaking quite noticeable, when the sparking sensations spread around his body, Dib didn't know what to do or say further, so he kept panting against Zim's skin and closed his eyes in pleasure, letting out a high pitched whimper now and then.

Keeping an ear -well, in Zim's case, an antenna- out for all of Dib's noises, Zim only increased his rubs and licks hoping for more reactions.

It really was quite something, two completely different species, loving each other, and making the other feel good... Quite the opposite to what they used to do in the past. Somehow, it could have been almost predicted that this sort of thing would happen... Maybe not to THIS extreme, but still... Even in the past they were both their obsessions... Zim was constantly trying to kill Dib and conquer the planet, and Dib was constantly trying to kill Zim and prove he was an alien to the world. Yet now, it was a completely different type of obsession. The type where they couldn't get the other off their mind, nor stay away for long... That was proven by the whole camera incident. Almost as soon as Dib had felt his base, Zim had wanted him to come back... And from the way he found Dib when he went round to his house, well, it seemed he felt the same way...

After all, even if they wouldn't admit it, in some way, they needed either. Someone to care, someone to love, someone to just be there for them. And that's exactly what they had now!

Smirk leaving and being replaced with a soft smile, Zim paused his licks to speak. "Heh, I-I guess I d-do... A-And I'm glad for that!" Nuzzling his face into the human's neck, he began to plant small kisses where his lips met Dib's flesh.

"Hrmpf!" Making a loud groan, Dib arched his back at the increased licking to his neck. Heh, now it really felt like Zim wanted to taste him, like Dib was a yummy ice-cream treat. Well. Panting quite heavily from all the heat, caused by Zim's licks, Dib was almost relieved when the other stopped to speak. He didn't know why, but the way Zim said it... it painted a nice, blooming blush on Dib's pale features. And it got fuelled, when the Irken changed his work from licking to... kissing.

After another quiet moan, Dib managed to reply. "A-Apparantly... I'm a g-good D-Dib-pet... and a d-delicious one t-too!... Since it s-seems... like y-you... can't get enough of m-my skin, heh..."

Obviously Zim learned even more from the boy's actions and 'methods' than he'd expected. And it worked very nice! For someone who never did this before, Zim was doing great. Well, Dib didn't neither... Yet, it felt so natural, almost 'normal'. But every time, it caused such overwhelming, good feelings inside both of them... It was so right.

Unconsciously, Dib now brushed with the fingertips of one hand over the cross-mark he received. Zim's work... Yeah, the X really marks the treasure's spot... Thinking about this only increased the good feelings. With his hand on Zim's back now, Dib pressed himself flush against the Irken, so their chests were rubbing together, not really noticing his member, getting sandwiched between them.

"... W-Wherever y-you... k-kiss me, Zimmy... it... i-it m-makes me f-feel... like I'm burning..." Getting baked from inside, shaking and moaning, Dib wanted to do something for Zim too... but on the other side, didn't want to 'distract' his mate from his actions. So, he just sat there and absently stroked the mark on his chest.

Well noticing all the human's reactions, noises and words, Zim felt quite proud of himself. Over the past few days, he'd gone from having no clue about 'nice touches', to being able to make Dib groan and moan like this! It was enough to make the Irken mentally cheer, since cheering properly would probably be weird considering the moment and such.

So instead, Zim let out his happiness by bobbing his antennae up and down slightly, sort of like someone would do with their head whilst listening to a good song.

Another thing which he noticed was one of Dib's hands move to the small mark on his chest. Heh, it seemed the human was still quite pleased with that... Zim felt quite foolish about freaking out like he did before when he first created it. Well, who wouldn't though? He seriously thought he had hurt the other. In some way he did, but Dib seemed perfectly find with it at the time... Strangely.

Zim got snapped out of these line of thoughts as he felt both their fronts meet and rub against each other. This caused a slight moan from the Irken himself, whilst he changed back to licking the other's neck, but this time more forcefully... As if demanding more sounds.

Dib suddenly heard... a moan. But this time it wasn't his own. Oh, seems that Zim was enjoying himself there... The boy originally hoped, the skin to skin to skin contact would cool down his own body. And it did... But, when he felt the licking again, more confident and... stronger, Dib felt a new wave of heated lust coursing through his whole self. Gasping again and taking hasty breaths, Dib now gripped the Irken with both hands, for dear life.

"Ah...Zim!" Already sweating a bit, Dib got rather dizzy panted between his words. "...Oh, Z-Z... Zim, why d-does... this f-feel so p-powerful...?" Before, he really liked that, but now... it turned Dib's body into fire and made him so... lustful.

"Y-Yes...i-it's... so goood..." Peeking one eye open, Dib instantly noticed the dancing antennas... right before his eyes! That was too tempting, so he couldn't help at least stroke one with with a trembling hand, up and down the whole stalk.

"I-I... r-really l-love... m-my possessive... Z-Zimmy... s-so, so much... nyah!" Soon, Dib scrunched his eyes shut again and instinctively added a squeezing to his stroking motions of the precious feeler. He really didn't know what to say and doubted he could form coherent sentences anymore, so Dib just kept saying his Irken's name, between his submissive sounds of whining and moaning.

"...Zim... Z-Zim... Z-Ziiim!... ohhh~" A odd mantra of lust and overwhelming happiness.

Listening to Dib's new noises and statements, which included a question, Zim wasn't sure whether it was a genuine question, or one which he wasn't meant to answer. Yet, having his confidence built up extremely, from hearing his name spoken like that, couldn't help but tease the other.

"B-Because, I am Zim, s-so, anything you can d-do-"

He paused to give the human's neck another lick pointedly

"-I can do b-better," he finished, smirk returning, but this time in more of a evil look.

Removing the hand which had been on Dib's head, slowly trailed it down to the other's chest, looking for its next 'victim'. But before he could, Zim felt his antenna get attention. Instantly, he bit on his lower lip, trying to stay focused and not get distracted by this. It was tricky, especially with the added squeezing. Yet, he managed, and eventually, his hand found what it was looking for... The human's, oh so sensitive, pinky-things, on his chest.

Smirk increasing, Zim placed his hand on one, and began to rub.

Well, Dib suppressed his mantra, to hear what Zim was saying. But that wasn't something he expected. Obviously, Zim liked his new role pretty much and very well knew what he was doing. Dib somehow wanted to be offended by that statement, but found he couldn't... since he was getting turned on by this new confidence of the Irken.

And the voice Zim used... so smug and, yeah... almost evil sounding, like in the past... it only increased that feeling.

Shuddering at the last lick, Dib thought he could finally catch his breath, but no... Right after Zim's tongue left his skin, he felt his nipple being touched... by a cool, three-fingered hand. Its claws gently rubbed over it, so it immediately hardened. Dib jerked slightly at the sudden contact, but soon relaxed and let the Irken do his work.

"Y-You're... mmmm... y-you're evil, you k-know that...?"

Moaning sporadically, Dib tried to make a payback by continuing to caress Zim's antennas. But he trembled too much and couldn't concentrate on his hands, since he got flooded with hot waves of electricity. His neck still tingled slightly from the Irken's saliva on it.

" ...m-my... teasing... LITTLE, Z-Zimmy..." Dib managed to stutter, to counter at least in some kind...

He didn't know what to do with his hands, so they rested uselessly on Zim's hips. After some more moments of... this, Dib was almost scared he could drift away or melting from Zim's... endearment. So he needily wrapped his legs around his mate.

Zim couldn't help but giggle slightly at the 'evil' remark, since he had heard Dib call him that many a time in the past, but now it had a completely different meaning... In some way which he couldn't understand, it almost sounded affectionate. No, he really couldn't explain why... Maybe it was the tone? Or the slight hint of sarcasm. Either way, it was quite funny to hear.

"Y-Yeah... Zim knows," he replied, almost sounding proud of that fact. And he only grew more proud at hearing the moans from Dib every now and then. So, at that moment, he was both evil and powerful? 'Heh... Cool...' He couldn't help but think once again, smirk turning into a happy grin. Yet, this was short-lived at hearing the insult which followed not so long after.

Suddenly that grin turned into a pout. "I-I am not 'l-little'..." He mumbled, resting his chin on Dib's shoulder and looking at the sheets behind him in a bit of a mood.

Dib could call him any insult on Earth, and he probably wouldn't get annoyed... But that, well, he was a bit offended to say the least. Yet, he knew he was only saying it as a comeback, so wasn't going to hold it against him. So, instead, as a little payback of his own, only increased his rubbing on the human's nipple, whilst taking mental note of Dib's changed position.

"Heh... Y-You really are l-liking this, ain't y-ya'?"

At the increasing attention to his nipple, Dib gave off a low howl and curled around Zim. Feeling the need to counter, Dib managed to reply.

"...Okay, m-maybe you're not, b-but... I'm still... t-taller than you, heh..." Thinking about that, he quickly added. "W-Well... at l-least a b-bit..."

Dib's lower area heated up, while he noticed how his member throbbed, asking for attention. "...Ziiim," he whined and pressed his face into Zim's shoulder. "...Y-You're s-suddenly... so... s-so confident a-and... d-dominant..." Letting out a extended moan, he rubbed his member against Zim, his mind getting fogged up.

"Z-Zimmy, you... d-drive me n-nuts..." the boy desperately whispered into an antenna.

Instantly tensing at feeling the human's member rubbing against him, Zim's previously faded blush immediately returned in full blast. Eyes widening, Zim looked down between the small space between them, and the first thing which his eyes landed on... was Dib's 'thing' standing at attention, just begging to be noticed.

Shuddering slightly from all the other's whines, moans, the tone in his voice, and even a howl, Zim's annoyed look soon changed into a nervous smirk.

"Z-Zim's guessing that Dib-pet w-wants 'help' w-with that... Correct?" He asked, well knowing the answer. It was more like a warning before he got to work.

So, hand leaving Dib's abused nipple, trailed it down further towards that other 'area', before moving one finger carefully down the side, more teasingly than anything. He well remembered what Dib had done earlier, so knew how this felt now... And Zim hoped to get the same reactions from the human.

Not knowing what sound could escape his mouth next, Dib successfully suppressed them. Almost missing the other's words, first he didn't know what Zim meant... As soon as the single finger came into contact with his member, he knew.

Dib squeaked like a scared mouse and jerked back a bit. But that only caused Zim to have a better access... "...Ziiiimmm~!" The Irken's name soon turned into high pitched moan. Even Dib was surprised at how intense he reacted, when Zim was only using one finger. Well, probably it was the surprise and... their 'foreplay' with all the licking and kissing... All that kinda sensitised his body even more to his mate's actions, especially when the Irken was so... 'evil'.

Regarding all the things he did with Zim a couple of minutes ago... this time it felt different. Probably because, there were no worries this time. Before, when Zim laid his hand on his 'thing', a slight concern was still present in Dib's mind. About how new this was for both of them, especially for Zim... It was an unknown 'field' of their bodies, combined with the utmost amount of... intimacy and trust. But now... Well, it was still a new thing, but no premiere anymore.

And this time... yeah, this time Zim was way more confident and gladly took the charge. Almost no sign of his previous uneasiness. Just a strong blush was covering his green face.

The sudden, and quite loud squeak which left Dib, caused Zim's finger to almost instantly stop. With wide eyes, Zim looked up towards the human's face, and it was just then when the other moaned out his name in such a tone, if he hadn't have seen Dib make that noise with his own two eyes, he wouldn't have believed it was him... But obviously, it was.

It was quite funny though, since he hadn't have expected such an extreme reaction from just this... One finger. Well, then again, Zim wasn't complaining. Not at all! Now that he knew it was nothing bad, returned his gaze back down to his current task. Deciding that if one finger could cause a reaction like THAT, then if he used his whole hand... then he'd get an even better reaction...

So, removing his finger, waited for a second or so, before firmly grabbing the 'thing' with all 3 of his fingers, squeezing slightly.

"Nyaaaah... Z-Zimmyyy... Zimmy!... Y-You f-feel s-sooo... so good..." Dib whined and bucked his hips slightly towards the Irken's hand. He really didn't know why it felt so intense, to feel those three fingers. But he loved it and pressed himself more to his mate, trembling quite heavy.

What the human didn't know was the reason for his behaviour... There was that chemical, that Zim was giving off. Well, it was more or less a strong pheromone, which Dib smelled so many times before... But that scent was just one side effect. The main effect was that, when Dib smelled it, he also inhales this pheromone. And because Zim got the dominate role in this moment, the hormone is subconsciously telling Dib to be submissive towards his mate. Zim... So every time the Irken is dominate, like now, his body reacts by giving off this 'manipulating' chemical to make his human mate more submissive. But also, it does the opposite when their roles are changing, like it happened before, when Dib was rubbing Zim's 'thing' and stuff. The smell stays the same, so Dib likes it and stays close to his Irken...

"I-I'm... y-your good D-Dib-pet, y-yes...? A-And... my m-mate is... m-making his p-pet sooo h-happy..." the boy whispered into a feeler with a wide smile on his face. After another groan, Dib nuzzled the Irken's neck and added desperately. "...P-Please, more... m-more... y-your pet wants to f-feel m-more of it... please, Zimmy..."

From all the noises which were escaping Dib, Zim was beginning to feel more and more light-headed. Obviously not as much as the human was, since he remembered how dizzy that he had felt when this had happened to him! But still. Well noticing the, almost impatient, movement of Dib's hips, Zim changed from squeezing to rubbing the entire length extremely slowly.

Every now and then he would continue to squeeze, yet that wasn't the main technique he was using.

"Y-Yes... Such a good Dib-pet y-you are... V-Very much so..." Zim mumbled, speeding up his hand slightly.

He really liked hearing these sounds from Dib, yet it seemed no matter what they were doing, the human always seemed to talk. Heh, he wasn't complaining, since as he said in the past, Zim liked hearing Dib talk...

Always quite interesting to hear what was on his mind. Especially since the human didn't seem to get much notice at Skool, and he doubted it was any different in this house... Looking to the door, it was only then he remembered how the other's sister was downstairs yesterday evening...

She... She wouldn't be here now, right? Zim hoped not. After all, even he knew that Dib probably didn't want anyone to know what they had been doing... Well, it was still a Skool day, so obviously not.

Letting out a slight sigh of relief, he continued his hand movement, wanting even more sounds.

When the Irken began to move his hand, so teasingly slow, Dib hid his face into Zim's neck and constantly whispered the other's name. It was strange... how his mind was telling him to beg for more, to bring the Irken on top of him, offering himself as a good behaving, willing pet he wanted to be. And hearing that approval, that compliment from his mate only increased such thoughts. But Dib was sure, too much movement now would ruin the perfect, hot sensations which threatened to rip him apart. Zim was his owner; he was in charge... So the boy just stayed as he was, and expressing his pleasure in high pitched whines and low moans.

He was surprised he was able to make... such noise, but knew his Zim liked them, so gladly let it happen. So when the Irken even speeded up his slightly cooler hand, combined with that sporadic squeezing, Dib couldn't help himself.

"...ohhh, y-yeees... Zim!... w-why does this... f-feel so... a-amazing...?" He grabbed Zim's shoulders and rubbed his heated face on them, trying to handle his feelings... with something.

But after a few seconds, he somehow got carried away and furiously began to lick Zim's neck affectionately. The boy just wanted to do something for his mate too, showing him how happy he was making his pet. Between every lick he mumbled: "M-My.." Lick. "..precious.." Lick. "..p-precious.." Lick. "...Zimmy!" Relinquishing the Irken's taste, he continued, so his trembling lessen ever so slightly.

Each sound which met his antennae only caused the smirk which was plastered on Zim's face to grow more and even wider until his expression resembled that of an evil clown... Especially with his sharp teeth. Heh... Anyway, not only did they cause that, but also boosted his confidence.

Zim liked this role... being in charge of the moment, and making his mate feel the way he does. It seemed they were almost taking it in turns. Since first it was Zim's turn, then Dib's and now Zim's again! Just the way he liked it too! Being able to do whatever he wished. And the pitch of the human's moans only proved how good it felt. Zim felt strangely proud of himself.

Moving his hand slower again, began to move a singular finger over the tip of Dib's member, knowing how it felt when the other had done it to him. Yet, at feeling the human's tongue on his neck, a small shudder made an entrance, and this only caused Zim's hand to squeeze quite tightly around the other's 'thing' for a few moments, before returning to it's job.

"Nghrrr..." Dib groaned and accidentally bit into the other's neck, when suddenly he felt that one rubbing movement on the tip... As if to apologize, he quickly licked the bitten area and gave it a peck, before mumbling a little "-S-Sorry..."

Right after that, a small surprised gasp escaped him, when he felt the tip of his member was getting warmer and the rubbing felt even better, smoother... Even in his clouded state of mind, Dib knew what it was. Liquid was leaving his 'thing'. The first sign of... Oh boy! But this time, Dib didn't want Zim to stop, no way. Since Zim obviously wanted him to 'cum' and knew what it was, what it felt like... Not since it felt sooo ... incredible. Stopping now would be horrible. And the brief tight squeeze didn't help, only caused to make his tip even wetter. And just like the Irken had described it before...

Dib suddenly felt a faint, but very noticeable tingling in his lower stomach. "Ohhh~...I-" He desperately gripped Zim and slowly grazed his fingernails up and down the other back, trying to calm down all the swirling hot feelings of pleasure and excitement, which were building up. "...Z-Zim, I...I-I think... I'm c-coming... s-soon... It... it f-feels so w-weird..."

At the sudden nip to his neck, Zim jerked slightly, but only let out a content sigh as Dib apologized with actions and in words.

"Heh, s-seems your enjoying i-it a lot..." He mumbled, whilst noticing the liquid which had become present, making the rubbing a lot easier, and allowed Zim to quicken his pace even more. He knew it was only a matter of time until Dib would come... After all, Dib had just said he was feeling weird, and the liquid was proof.

If his grin wasn't already at full power, it would have grown, yet since it couldn't, he instead began to chuckle slightly. It actually sounded kind of creepy... Especially during this situation.

Now with his other free hand, Zim began to comb Dib's hair through his fingers, and every now and then pulling slightly. "Y-Yeah... It feels w-weird, but just as you t-told me... just let i-it overflow you Dib-pet..." Zim said, more in a whisper than anything.

At feeling the human's nails on his back, the Irken squirmed slightly, which caused his hand to only move faster.

"...O-Okay..." Dib smiled when he heard his own words, he said when he was doing the same thing to the Irken, just minutes ago... And now, Zim was the one saying them to him... How ironic, but wonderful!

Dib instantly leaned into Zim's hand on his head, that familiar action being more welcome than ever. It calmed him down ever so slightly. Since now his whole body was shaking in pleasure, like Dib could crumble to pieces at every moment. It really overflowed his senses, when Zim's hand moved faster, causing even more pre-cum leaving his member.

"Ahhh..." he whined and dug his fingers into Zim's flesh, really couldn't helping himself.

"Zim." Dib began in a rather quiet whisper in a pleading voice. The other's hand now was almost racing up and down, thanks to the gliding effect of Dib's 'liquid'. "...Z-Ziiimmm..." He moaned out his mate's name, rather loud now. The tingling in his lower stomach turned into a burning sensation and he felt a pressure building up in his member. Dib began to squirm around in his place, pressing even more into the Irken's wonderful hand... "Oh!... Z-Ziiimm!... I-I... Nyah-"

It was too much. Instinctively, Dib gave Zim's neck a few desperate licks, before he let out a low howl of... Suddenly, his mind went blank as a white hot wave of pleasure gripped him. Dib lifted his head a shouted out his Irken's name, when he finally had his orgasm...

"...ZIIIIIIMMMM!"

He released himself, as his seed shot out of his member in several thrusts. It really felt like he was exploding! For a few seconds... After that, Dib just slumped feebly against his mate, panting like he'd just sprinted a lot of miles. His hands fell loosely to his sides, as his dizzy head rested on the Irken's wet shoulder. But the boy got no strength to do or say something besides panting and smiling...

Wincing slightly as the human's nails dug further into his back, Zim's smirk lessened slightly and changed his gaze up to Dib's face... He could tell it wasn't going to be long until he 'gave up'. Every little noise was very nice to hear, and the face which Dib was pulling was also a sight too... Well, what he could see of it at least, since the other was still hiding his face in his neck...

Noticing the other begin to squirm, Zim slowed down his hand very slightly, yet it was still quite fast. With every call of his name, the roughness of his hand which was on the human's head grew slightly, so his claws dug in gently. Yet, all the other calls were NOTHING compared to that final one...

Zim actually had to pin back his antennae from the loudness of it, yet it caused a strong shudder. Now with a hand covered in 'stuff', Zim placed that one beside him, whilst his clean one wrapped around the human's back, rubbing slightly. He knew how tired the other must be now... After all, it took up a lot of energy to feel that good... Well, at least that was his theory, heh.

"S-So... How does i-it feel, human?" He asked, nuzzling the side of his face into Dib's resting head. He knew how it felt, but wanted to hear the human's version of the feeling. Especially since it was his hand which had caused it.

Again, he felt pretty proud of himself...


	45. Chapter 45

Slowly but surely, Dib calmed down. For a minute or so, he said nothing and caught his breath, still panting. How did it feel...? Well, that wasn't hard to describe, so the boy took a deep breath and gladly pressed his face back to the Irken's cooler one.

"L-Like I was... e-exploding! S-Something like high voltage... w-was racing through my whole body... until it d-discharged in m-my lower stomach..." Dib arched his back at the gentle rubbing of Zim's hand and let out a content sigh, before continuing.

"... T-The very idea of... well, of y-your hand, w-which I li-like to hold so much... t-touching me 'd-down there'..."

The blush which was beginning to die down only returned at that, but Dib didn't care and lazily draped his arms around Zim's neck to look up at his mate. His hair was a bit messy, but the boy was smiling wide and just overly happy.

"Heh, I-I really like it... when y-your so 'evil', Zimmy..." he whispered and sloppily pressed his lips against Zim's.

Smiling as he received an answer, Zim made a few agreeing noises at the back of his throat, comparing Dib's explanation to how he had felt... Heh, seemed they weren't different at all. Well, it was the same thing which had happened to both of them now, so he didn't really expect it to anyway. But still, it was nice to hear how good Dib had felt.

Zim hadn't expected a comment about his hand though, so that caused a few thoughts to come into his head. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of funny how before, they just held hands and such, and it was such a reassuring and comforting gesture. Yet now, the same hand had caused the other to feel so good in a completely different, and new, way.

"Heh, y-yeah... kind of a weird f-fact, but also s-so... so right," Zim replied, now looking into Dib's eyes... Honey and toffee.

Chuckling slightly at the last comment, Zim gladly welcomed the human's lips with his own, smile increasing with every second. He wasn't sure when he had last been this happy, and didn't really care either... It just mattered that he was, and with Dib...

His mate, his pet, his human.

Dib nibbled at the other's lips, before he gave them a few tasting licks. But when Dib breathed through his nose after that, he shuddered and stopped his tongue. There it was... Dib parted their mouths and hid his face in the Irken's neck again.

"T-That smell..." he mumbled, before a quiet whine escaped Dib. He felt so... weird again, like before, just without all the sensations, caused mostly by Zim's hand.

Despite being taller, Dib wanted to crawl beneath Zim, showing he was a good pet. He wanted to let Zim have his fun with him... And being near Zim's antennas now seemed to only increased that feeling, since this strange scent was getting stronger. It was different from before, when Dib was touching the Irken's 'thing'. At that moment, it turned the boy on, so had spoken so... seductive to Zim and made him eventually come... But now, it was different. Dib felt slightly dizzy again and whispered.

"Z-Zim, y-your smell... I noticed i-it before, but n-now... now I c-can really smell it... s-sooo strong." A small shudder gripped him, before he declared with a shaky voice. "Y-You are a... v-very, very nice a-and good owner... Your pet i-is really happy to have y-you..." Another tiny whine and Dib wrapped his legs more around his Irken.

Very disappointed as their lips parted, Zim's pouting face soon turned into a confused one as he heard Dib's first few words and slight whine. He wanted to see the other's face, but since it was hidden in his neck once again, he couldn't. He personally couldn't smell anything... but obviously Dib could... Well, one thing was clear, it was the same one which he had mentioned before... Which came from Zim. And it seemed to be affecting the other in some way again...

Now slightly concerned, Zim began to move his antennae around slightly to try and pick up some type of smell, yet no matter which direction they pointed, still nothing... Well, if it was coming from him, then maybe he was already used to the smell so he no longer acknowledged it...? Ugh... Maybe not... Yet still, nothing.

"Zim smells n-nothing..." He mumbled during the long paused, now curious, as well as worried. But hearing Dib's last few sentences, especially that last one, Zim knew what it was. Taking a deep breath in, he began to stroke through Dib's hair again, whilst talking.

"T-Thank you... Uhh, D-Dib-pet, you k-know that smell...? Y-Yeah, well... it MAY be doing t-things to your human b-brain... You... You d-don't feel weird, d-do you?" He asked, blushing slightly from the wrapping of Dib's legs. Zim wanted to make sure it was the correct thing before explaining more... After all, if it wasn't necessary, then this could get embarrassing.

Happy to hear that thanks first, Dib soon got slightly scared about Zim's last words. "T-Things... to m-my brain?" Oh boy, that didn't sound good... Yet again, he felt safe and very comforting in this moment. And he still really liked that smell, which was of a different kind of... 'sweet' from before, when he sat behind Zim and... well, yeah. Watching how Zim's feelers danced around in the air, Dib tried to explain.

"W-Well, I-I DO feel weird... b-but it's a very nice feeling, really! I... f-feel so comfy and... umm, cared right now. L-Like you would p-protect me, your p-pet from... e-everything bad that c-could happen." Closing his eyes, Dib listened to his emotions, before continuing more quietly. "...At the s-same time... I-I want y-you to... to t-touch me. All o-over my body... and when you d-do, I... f-feel so strange, like I g-get rewarded in s-some kind... I f-feel so... s-so... loved." The boy whispered that last.

Now that he thought about it, retrospectively... about all the noises he made when Zim not only stroked is member, but also licked his neck and every little touch he made... A strong shudder got down his spine and he tightened his hold around Zim's neck. Now he was surprised that he made all those noises. But Zim was in charge and obviously wanted to hear that sounds from his pet... And Dib was so happy to get rewarded by more touched from his Irken, which caused more sounds again... It had felt natural, so right to do that at that moment.

"I-It's nothing serious... Nor h-harming. I-It's just... it can change how y-you feel..." Zim assured, well noticing Dib's worried tone in the first mention of his brain.

Well, anyone would be worried if someone mentioned to them that a chemical was affecting their brain. After all, it didn't sound good when he put it into words, so instantly regretted mentioning that part first. Listening to the human's explanation, it caused Zim's blush to grow slightly, but also formed a small smile.

"Heh... W-Well Zim would protect his human f-from any harm... and Dib-mate is loved." He stated, now wrapping his arms around Dib's torso to confirm those words. Now he guessed it was time to explain what he had meant.

"You see Dib-pet... Y-You know that smell you k-keep mentioning...? Well, as I explained b-before, one of t-the reasons is t-to find the c-correct... m-mate. But, i-it also has a-another reason... Umm... I-It sort of sends a s-signal to your b-brain to... sort of... 'comply'... to my actions... or 'role', if you will. When I'm 'in charge' of the m-moment, it tells your b-brain to make y-you feel the need t-to be... uhh, s-submissive... But... it also does the opposite _w-when_..." Zim explained, trailing off at the end.

Zim really felt like a teacher... an embarrassed teacher. Yet, he felt like Dib had the right to know. After all, it was his brain it was affecting.

Besides a quiet 'hmm' here and there, Dib listened silently to the Irken's words. When he heard the first sentence, his heart ached along with a tightening chest... Sure, the other already said he loved the boy, but hearing those words... being protected and loved by his mate... and feeling the following hug.

Some 'stuff' was still sticking to Zim's hand, but Dib couldn't care less at that moment.

'Dib-mate is loved'... the way Zim said that... so sincere and caring... It somehow made Dib feel so... so good inside! "...Zim," he whispered, barely audible, against the Irken's skin, before he listened further... and was fascinated.

"Oh... I-I already guessed it a-affects me in some w-way... because I l-like it so much and stuff... but in such a way...? Wow..." That fact made Zim even more interesting, made Dib more curious about the Irken's body.

The boy leaned back slightly and looked into Zim's eyes, grinning. They weren't so black anymore, but still rather dark.

"Obviously, y-you found... the right m-mate, Zimmy... and so do I! The perfect one..." Looking to the side, he blushed and added. "S-So I guess that means... depending on w-what you do when we're... c-cuddling or... umm, t-touching each other, I have to... 'adapt' t-to your actions?"

Casually, he looked down and saw their lower halves... His own member got smaller again, to its original size. Glancing to Zim's half, Dib only saw that small line on the Irken's flesh, the slit, the opening where the other's member hides inside... until next time...

But he also saw his 'stuff' around them. Most of it landed on the sheets, some on Dib himself. And a few flecks between Zim's legs too... Well, that didn't help to make his blush go away. He was surprised at how... much of his seed he released. Heh, Zim did a great job! It was amazing... Luckily, Dib felt the Irken's gaze on him, so he quickly broke off his train of thoughts and looked back up at his mate.

"Y-You know... I have to admit... I-I really like that. This way, your body kinda t-tells me...what I c-can do to make you h-happy. And when you are, I am too, r-remember? I like your scent, i-it just makes me f-feel good... so, how can I not l-love you even more for that...?"

Dib was totally serious, but smiling so wide at the same time. "It's nice to learn more a-about you... and your body." After that, Dib rubbed his face into Zim's neck again, like it was a comfy nest, and mumbled. "Besides... l-like I told you... Heh, I l-love it w-when my Z-Zimmy is so... d-dominate and get what he wants... like before..." After a small, teasing lick he quietly added. "...Y-You really know what your pet l-likes..."

As soon as Dib had backed up, Zim's gaze instantly fell on the human's eyes. Now happy with his view, he listened to what the other had to say in response to his own little explanation. And it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He thought that maybe Dib would be slightly... creeped out by it, or something like that, but no... he seemed perfectly fine with it.

Instantly feeling some of his embarrassment leave, it soon got replaced with a warm, pulling kind of feeling in his chest as he heard all the compliments... Well, they were in_his_ mind at least.

Zim didn't even notice the human's gaze move, since he was already getting lost in thought, and in the mixture of gold and brown, which were Dib's eyes. Most of his thoughts revolved around the human. About how much things had changed... Between them, between two species... How different their lives would be... No more world conquering for Zim, and no more alien proof for Dib. Very similar to the previous few days. And then to the basic kind of stuff people think about when happy and with a person they care about. He even kept staring as he listened to what else the other had to say, until Dib hid his face once again. Shuddering from the small lick, Zim replied.

"I g-guess I do, heh... I-If your sounds a-are anything to by, then y-you'd be extremely correct, Dib-pet," he smugly responded, nuzzling his cheek into the other's head, whilst bringing a hand up to Dib's hair once again. For the moment, Zim just wanted a calm cuddling moment... after all, they had both just done the 'extreme', so maybe some calming down was in order. Well, for now at least. Then suddenly a question he had been meaning to ask popped up in his mind.

"Uh, Dib-pet, y-you know we've been having a sleepover t-the past few days? Is t-that still continuing?" He asked, really hoping for a '_yes_'.

Enjoying the feel of Zim's skin against his own, when he pressed more to the Irken, so their chest rubbed against each other... Slowly, their temperatures seemed to equate. Dib cooled down and Zim was still a bit warmer than usual, so he felt neither really warm nor cool. Just soft and nice smelling, although the scent lessened a bit, it still gave Dib that comforting and familiar feelings...

Blushing when Zim mentioned his sounds from before, he couldn't help making a small whimper. Yeah... Zim had made him rather 'noisy', using all his various touches and that whispering, demanding voice... Slightly shaking his head, Dib pressed his head into Zim's and smiled to himself when he felt the little tingles on his scalp from the other's gentle stroking. As he mentioned before, Zim's hands were versatile... Like an all-purpose tool, which was able to make Dib so happy. Of course, not only his hands... Like it seemed to happen quite often,

Dib stopped his current thinking when he heard his mate speak again, this time mentioning the sleep-over. Indeed. Technically, they were still having a sleep-over. Heh, to Dib, it still sounded like a thing only friends, buddies would do. Mates... would live together permanently, right? So, Dib leaned back again, since he already noticed how Zim stared at him... and smiled when he saw his eyes. Well, if there was one thing Dib was proud about himself, it were his eyes. Because his Irken liked them so much...

"Y-Yeah!" He cheered. "If a 'sleep-over' involves all the t-things we did, especially this morning... heh... then I would happily extend it to... hmm, an indefinite period of time, 'kay?" But suddenly, his bright mood dropped slightly and Dib added meekly. "... I-If you want to... have me around ALL the time. M-Maybe you... want to b-be alone sometimes..."

Dib got already more than enough 'alone time', being with himself, moping, hating Zim instead of loving him, musing... well, he was still thinking about this and that. But since he was with Zim, his thoughts mostly were good ones and revolved around the Irken. His Irken... So he would gladly spend as much time as possible with him, now that they were mates...

Already going back to staring at Dib's eyes, Zim's blank expression soon turned into a wide smile at hearing the answer which he had been hoping for, but didn't expect the last, almost worried, addition.

"O-Of course I want you around all the time, silly human... After all, it's bad to leave a pet unattended for too long... A-And if I want to stay a good owner, that means I n-need to stay around my pet," Zim explained, half teasing but also quite serious.

He found the addition quite funny to be honest, since he thought that'd he'd already made it quite obvious that he didn't want either of them to be alone for longer than was necessary. Yet, it seemed that Dib still had his worries.

"Also~... GIR will be very happy to have '_Mary_' staying with us," he added, giggling slightly, using the usual name which the robot associated with Dib. Heh, he remembered when they played truth or dare, and the scene with GIR's tea party... Oh how scared the human had looked. This memory only caused his grin to increase. But anyway, it was quite nice to think that they'd be spending every day together...

Heh, maybe Dib could actually be able to drive the voot cruiser properly after a few more lessons... Wait.

Turning his head towards the window, Zim straightened his back so he could see the road. And sitting there, in broad daylight was his ship... Eyes widening, he suddenly remembered. Ugh, yesterday he had only meant to come to Dib's house for a moment to apologize, and pick him up to take back to the base. Yet no, he had spent the night! Now panicking, he thought about how many humans might have seen it by now. And... oh no... And he left GIR alone at the base... Who knows what he could have done by now!

Letting go of the human, Zim crawled over to the window and looked out. Well, there was no crowd around the ship at least... And the street looked pretty deserted. Well, one or two people walking by, yet didn't seem to notice. That removed some of his worries, but still... it wasn't ideal.

And there was it again, that somehow mesmerized gaze of Zim, every time he saw in his eyes... Even when he talked, his red orbs never left Dib's eyes for a second. For once, Dib didn't know how to reply, so he just grinned back when the Irken had finished. First thing was being with GIR at some point... Dib wasn't looking forward to it, but that was worth it when he got the chance to have Zim around for it!

Apparently, it was already a normal fact for the Irken to have Dib as his pet and keep him around. So he probably wasn't aware of how much that meant to Dib. He still was getting used to the fact of being the Irken's personal pet. But, just like he said before, he really liked that fact, and that wasn't just a reaction of the scent Dib was affected by in that moment... It was just so nice to belong to someone, so what Zim said was strangely comforting and so caring!

That was the thing Dib needed to get used to it still... To be wanted, to be even loved... And to feel the same thing for Zim. Suddenly he wanted to hug and kiss Zim for his sweet words, but couldn't, since Dib now found himself Zim-less and saw his mate looking out the window. Getting curious, the boy got beside Zim and followed his gaze...

Oh! What was Zim's Voot doing down there? In bright daylight!?

"W-What is your ship... doing out there?" Dib mumbled in a panicked voice.

Against his will, images of Zim formed in his mind; like two days ago. But worse. His mate, getting caught and... staring at his naked form... for dissection... Zim's cries and ...blood... _**NO!**_

Suddenly the boy trembled quite badly and clawed his hands into the window frame. Why was Zim so stupid?! The whole neighbourhood probably already saw it! And...

"W-We have to... g-get i-it out of here...!" He kept staring at the ship on his lawn, while the images repeated in his head. His voice shook as much as his naked body did.

"...Z-Zim, they c-can see it!... T-They w-will FIND you... and t-take y-you away... a-away from... M-ME! No, no... No!" Dib didn't to lose his Zim. He loved him! Zim wasn't evil anymore, no threat... It was just not fair!

It seemed that Dib was panicking himself... Even more than Zim was himself.

"C-Calm down Dib-pet... T-They probably just t-think it's one of y-your father-unit's inventions... And see? T-Those humans haven't even noticed a t-thing..." Zim explained, pointing to the people which had just walked down the street.

It was only then which he realized he was out of his disguise, so quickly ducked down, looking up at Dib's face which was a mixture of worry and panic.

"Besides... H-Humans have been stupid enough t-to not notice Zim before... They probably haven't e-even noticed the cruiser," he assured, peeking his head up once again.

But still... if one of them had half a brain cell and DID notice it... then it would get serious. Well, there wasn't much point just sitting here panicking; something had to be done. Before that, Zim noticed how badly the human was shaking beside him... So, he quickly wrapped his arms around his torso in a brief hug, before letting go once again.

"Nothing is going to happen... I-I promise..." He mumbled, before crawling to the side of the bed, reaching over, and picking his contacts and wig off the floor. Once they were back on, Zim reached towards his shirt and jeans, and put them back on also. It was when he was putting on his boots when he realized he still had some of Dib's 'stuff' on his hand.

Blushing slightly, he decided to ignore it for now... He'd have to clean up once they got back to the base anyway... Both of them would. Heh, kind of funny since Dib had only had a shower when he woke up. Looking back towards Dib, he noticed how he was just sitting there, almost frozen to the window.

"C-Come on human... Sitting there i-isn't going to help," Zim teased, trying to get the other back to his usual happy state.

Feeling the small hug wasn't helping Dib to calm down. "B-But... it's r-right there..." Dib quietly stated the obvious. But for now, he decided to just believe Zim that nothing bad would happen... but only if the Voot wouldn't stand around down there any longer!

So after the other called for him, Dib broke away from the view and snatched his clothes, still a bit panicked. Once he got his UFO covered underwear, pants and shirt back on, Dib hurried do the door and ran down the stairs outside, knowing Zim was right behind him. He didn't notice his missing glasses and bare feet as he reached the ship, landed on the lawn beside his house and neatly visible from the street. With wide eyes (besides panicked, he still was fascinated by Zim's ship), Dib turned around.

"J-Just get this thing out of here!" He demanded and pointed to the small, round ship.

"Okay, _okay_..." Zim replied, making a 'calm down' gesture with his hands. Sure it was a huge deal that an alien craft was sitting on Dib's front yard, but still it wasn't like anyone had seen... Well, at least that they knew of.

Walking round the side of the ship, the Irken checked the street for any signs of life, and when saw nothing, gave the cockpit a quick knock. Once it had opened, he quickly hopped inside. Hand hovering over the power button, Zim's mind was debating whether or not to check the security program... After all, if someone had seen it... boy were they in trouble.

There was always the excuse that Professor Membrane had made it... Yet that could cause more unwanted attention.

So, after typing in the code for the usual security program, a mini screen popped up with video footage from the last time the ship had been used. Well, the first few hours were just night time, so mostly black. Skipping forward some more, soon it was morning. The time read 7:50am on the screen... Just before Skool. People were walking past, none of them even blinking an eye at the ship.

Zim was just about to give up and give the all clear to Dib, but then suddenly, a familiar orange-haired, green eyed, grinning boy appeared on screen.

Zim's eyes widened as he realized who it was... **Keef.**

Well... at least he hadn't seen the ship... Right? Wrong. Almost as soon as he had appeared, instantly his eyes met the camera. It felt like he was staring right at Zim himself right now... _Creepy_. An even wider grin appeared on the rainbow-shirt-wearing boy's face, as he walked closer and inspected the ship from top to bottom.

"Oh dookie..." Zim mumbled to himself, before opening the ship's roof once again so he could talk to the other.

"D-Dib-pet... W-We have a p-problem..." He explained, whilst pointing to the screen which currently displayed Keef repeating the words '_cool_', '_awesome_', and '_neat_', whilst poking the ship's glass.

Nervously waiting for Zim to get the ship started, Dib glanced around, but luckily saw no-one besides two or three people in some distance. But... the ship had stood there for hours! And the whole morning, during the 'things' he did with Zim...

Dib wanted to yell at the Irken for being so stupid, so careless! Yet, he was the reason Zim came to his house in the first place. The boy got no time to find the one to blame for this, when he heard Zim speak. Well, it was clear those few words only increased Dib's worries.

"What? A... problem? L-Let me see..." The boy clumsily climbed into the ship and looked at the screen... and saw Keef. Oh, boy, not that annoying guy!

Dib well remembered how Keef tried to be friends... with both of them, him AND Zim. And tried to befriend them too. Despite their obvious hostility back then... And that guy saw the ship?! That was bad, worse than bad. Really bad actually! As far as Dib knew Keef, he assumed that he would tell everyone he knew and don't know about Zim's ship... in front of Dib's house... the house of the crazy kid. Well, Dib doubted someone would take Keef more seriously than he himself. But the orange-haired nag was a big blabbermouth, even more so than Dib! Who kept staring at the screen, at the loop of the appearing and leaving Keef. Soon, Dib composed himself and gulped.

"J-Just start. I... I'll talk to him," he simply replied and wanted to take Zim's hand, but knew he couldn't, so instead clenched his teeth, fiddled with his blue shirt and tried to figure out what to say, how to... silence Keef.

Nodding slightly, Zim started up the ships engines as the roof closed again around the two of them. It was then which he noticed how Dib was without his glasses and shoes... Plus his hair was quite messy still.

Heh, he guessed that meant this was a return trip back to Dib's house then. He didn't mind of course, he just found it kind of funny how the other looked so messy... Plus he didn't have his trench coat... He looked like a different Dib. Even though the seriousness of the moment, Zim couldn't help but giggle slightly at the human's appearance.

The voot cruiser rose up and soon they were flying over the city once again... Well, considering the time, Skool should be ending soon, so that meant Keef would have to be there... So he guessed that was their destination.

"Y-You know... Neither of us have b-been to Skool recently... he's bound to a-ask why..." Zim reminded, knowing that Dib's silence was probably down to thoughts. Explanation ideas.

He was quite grateful to the other for speaking to Keef... After all, it was his house it was outside... So Keef probably thought it was Dib's ship... Seeing the Skool come into view, they were just in time to hear the usual sound of a ringing bell, as well as cheering children. Some who which were climbing out the windows, but some taking the usual door.

After a moment or so of scanning for a decent place to land, Zim eventually decided behind a quite large bush. Perfect. Lowering the ship, he quickly cut the engines, opened the hatch, and turned to Dib, giving his a reassuring smile.

"Well, h-he should be leaving soon..."

Dib originally thought they would get to the base first, before walking to Skool. But no, Zim took the risk by flying directly to that education building of doom...

'That is not a good idea,' he mentally complained, but said nothing.

After all they were pretty high in the air. So the danger of being seen and identified as an alien spaceship maybe wasn't that big, still... The landing spot was thankfully secluded and covered by that bush. So far, so good. Now to find a way to talk Keef out of the story about an alien aircraft at his house...

Shouldn't be too hard to manage, hopefully.


	46. Chapter 46

Looking out of the ship's window, Zim could see the familiar dull, grey walls which constructed the Skool. Ugh... No good memories ever came from this place... nor education, to be honest. The walls were always covered in grunge of some kind, the cafeteria sold food which couldn't possibly be considered fit for consumption, and the humans which attended it had the IQ level of a cheese sandwich... Their teacher, Ms Bitters, was downright evil. And, there was that one teacher who was constantly happy, which was extremely annoying... Mr Elliot was it?

Shrugging to himself, Zim began to scan the swarm of kids which were exiting the building... but none of them were Keef. To get a better look, the Irken pressed himself up against the screen, with his hands either side of his head, to keep balanced. One hand could clearly feel the cool surface of the ship's glass, but the other not so much... Looking to his hand, he realized he still had some of Dib's dried 'stuff' on his palm...

'Oh great...' Zim mentally whined, blushing slightly, whilst looking back out the window.

He really should have taken them both back to the base to clean up first... Yet, that would have postponed talking to Keef even longer... and who knows who he could have told by then! Well... That was mainly Zim's fault for leaving his voot cruiser in plain sight overnight. He had only meant to leave it there for a few minutes, yet no, he completely forgot about it... Well, once this was over, they'd probably go back to Dib's house to collect his shoes, glasses and trench coat, and then back to the base to clean up. Hopefully... since Zim felt quite dirty at the moment.

Sighing, Zim decided to speak, whilst still looking out the window.

"Zim's sorry Dib-pet... I didn't mean to leave the ship there... I guess I forgot about it. If I hadn't... y-you wouldn't have to talk to the annoying huma- THERE HE IS!" He ended up yelling, finally seeing Keef walk out of the Skool, usual grin visible on his face.

"Come on human!" Zim commanded, grabbing Dib's hand, opening the cockpit's screen, and climbing out, dragging the other behind him.

Once they were both out, they took position behind the bush, eyes locked on the ginger boy.

"Ugh... of all the humans to have seen my ship... it had to be HIM..."

Along with the other, Dib searched for Keef with his eyes while he tried to think of what he should say to him. It was only then that Dib really noticed how he didn't wear glasses. His wide vision was rather blurry so he couldn't find that certain person among all the students.

'Damn... why did I actually forget my glasses?!' Looking down, he thought additionally. '... and shoes too!' Well, that wasn't important right now, they just needed to find Keef.

After some more moments, he heard Zim's quiet apology. Instantly, a weird feeling of anger and worry flared up inside the pale boy.

'Yeah, you should be. That was so stupid of you! Be more careful next time...' Dib mentally yelled and glared angrily at the Irken and wanted to reply something, when he was suddenly dragged out side. He stumbled a bit and crouched down beside Zim. His expression got determined when he finally made out the bright orange hair of Keef, even visible for Dib in his current glass-less state.

He stood up and walked out of their 'lair', before Dib turned around.

"You stay here." he said with a stern voice to his mate and walked up to the ginger boy.

He didn't want to have Zim involved in this more than he already was... A quick talk and all would settled... back to normal again. At least Dib hoped that. Dib forced a smile on his face and called.

"Hey, Keef!"

Said one turned around to Dib and made a startled face.

Hearing those words from Dib, and in such a tone, Zim immediately felt a dropping feeling in his stomach. Guilt or disappointment maybe? Possibly both.

Looking up to the other, he lightly nodded, whilst scanning the human's expression. At first glance, it could have been confused for a blank face, but looking closely, Zim could see a ever so slight frown carved in his features. Dib's eyes were narrowed slightly, and his shoulders looked rather tense.

Looking to the ground, the Irken reached out to the bush, and pulled one of the leaves off and began to silently rip pieces from it, until there was nothing left but the stalk it previous was attached to. He repeated this for about 3 of them, before returning his gaze to the scene in front of him.

It was quite obvious how forced Dib's smile was, but knowing Keef, he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Yet Zim could, especially after all the times he'd seen that unique expression on the human's face...

Sighing slightly, Zim changed his kneeling position to a sitting one, watching and listening to the conversation before him.

"Dib?... Hi!" Quickly, Keef stood before Dib and blatantly mustered him, grinning.

"Where were you the last days? And... why aren't you wearing your glasses or even shoes?"

Despite his questions, the ginger boy sounded quite happy too see Dib again. Forgetting his discovery of Zim's ship, Keef continued, more worried now.

"I didn't see you at the first day of this grade. But... I heard about Torque and what he did to you and-"

Suddenly, Dib grabbed his arm out of instinct.

"N-Nothing serious Keef, really!" Dib reassured, willing to sound diplomatic, friendly. "He j-just punched me, nothing more." Hastily, Dib let go of the other's arm and nervously rubbed his neck. "I got the flu and forgot my glasses, anyhow... I wanted to talk with you about the 'thing' on my h-house's lawn."

Keef's eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh... yeah! Almost forgot that." He got a mobile phone out of his pocket, pressed some beeping buttons and stepped dangerously close to Dib, still smiling... Keef weaved the phone before Dib's eyes, while a small photo of Zim's Voot was seen on its display.

"Do you know what that is, Dib? It looks like... like a spaceship!"

"I-It's nothing, Keef! J-just... umm... yeah, a new invention of my father. A... a submarine for underwater-research, yeah that's it!" Dib shook his hands defensively and stepped back.

That sceptical look on the ginger boy's face was a bad sign.

"Hmm... but I'm a big fan of 'Adventures of Science'. You know, the show of Professor Membrane. So I watch it every week, but he never announced that new 'submarine'" Keef even quoted that word with his fingers. "Usually he does, so it must be something else."

Now he stepped closer to Dib again and mumbled.

"You know... I bet it's an alien spaceship. Maybe you were right, Dib. Zim really is an alien and-"

"N-No! No, Zim is no alien! He's a perfectly normal-" Dib froze. Did he just almost use the exact same words Zim normally used to defend himself from Dib's own accusations of being an alien? Oh boy... His panic grew even more.

"Look I even made a video."

Before Dib could respond, the phone's display was literally shoved in his face, where indeed he saw Zim's ship, moving pictures. Dib gulped as he watched Keef rounding the ship in the video, filming it up and down. Just in the moment when Dib was grabbing at the phone, Keef jerked it back and put it away again.

"You don't think that's Zim's ship? You said he's an alien for so long... and why is that thing standing before your house, Dib? I wanted to tell it to you first, since it's at your house."

Well, apparently, Keef wasn't a stupid boy, getting so suspicious. In Dib's current state of mind, he futilely tried to come up with another excuse. He already thought about to take the phone from Keef with force. But that would be the last option... Dib Membrane just wasn't that type of person, like Torque. Even if it was for Zim's safety. After all, Keef didn't do something bad. Dib probably wouldn't act not any different.

"Keef... i-it's not a space ship. M-Maybe Zim isn't an alien. I was crazy thinking that, really! S-So you don't have to tell anybody about this thing on my lawn. Can you please give me that damn phone already? I... w-wanna see it more a-again." Dib reached out his hand and looked pleadingly at Keef.

The ginger just grinned happily at him.

"Dib, hey... I believe you! About Zim. You just have to look at it by yourself, more closely. Since you obviously didn't by now!"

Intentionally misunderstanding the other's gesture, Keef grabbed Dib's outstretched hand and was about to drag Dib to the Membrane Street...

Zim had a pretty good view of the two humans' conversation, but there was one problem... he couldn't hear a single word. Frowning slightly, he leaned forward so he could see between the branches of the bush.

Dib's back was turned towards him, so Zim couldn't see his face anymore, but he could clearly see the excited grin on Keef's face.

Growling silently to himself, he dug his claws into the grass beneath him in mild anger. He didn't like the fact that Dib, HIS human, was talking to another person besides him... That weird feeling in his chest returned... Just like it had when Dib was talking to that female at the ice-cream booth.

Jealousy.

And this only grew as Zim watched Dib take a hold of Keef's arm for a moment or so. In any other person's point of view, it would be nothing, but to the Irken, it was a huge deal. Clenching his teeth gently, he continued to 'spy' on the two boys, and a silent gasp escaped Zim's mouth as a phone became present. He couldn't see clearly what was on the screen, but from Dib's reaction, he sure as hell could guess.

Now, not only jealousy was at play, but also worry. He hadn't expected the ginger human to actually take pictures! Gaze shifting from one to the other, Zim began to bite his lower lip slightly, careful not to make a too noticeable sound. That priority soon got smashed as Keef moved closer to his human...

Hands balling up into fists, the Irken's eyes narrowed dangerously, as he resisted the urge to do something to change their closeness.

'No Zim... You need to stay here...' He thought to himself, remembering Dib's stern words from just moments ago. Sighing, Zim silently watched the conversation go on, until something he had NOT expected happened... Dib reached out his hand! From Zim's position, it looked like... no, it couldn't be... like he was asking for Keef's hand... No... he was probably asking for something else, like the phone. Yeah, that had to be it...

Just after the Irken had convinced himself that was what it was, Keef took hold of Dib's hand!

Gasping quite loudly now, Zim completely forgot about having to stay quiet and out of sight, as he changed back to kneeling, and poked his head above the bush... Keef was holding Dib's hand, and Dib was holding Keef's! No! Zim's jaw dropped slightly as he stared at the scene... His face instantly began to heat up, but this time not in embarrassment, but in anger and jealousy.

Now his claws had removed large clumps of dirt and grass from below him.

Averting his eyes from the two humans, Zim began to scan the ground around him for something. Yes! A rock. Small to say the least, but enough to hurt if thrown correctly. A furious frown was plastered on the Irken's green face, as he picked up the weapon.

No human was going to hold HIS Dib's hand without paying the price!

With all his power, he threw the stone at Keef's ginger head. Direct hit! As soon as the rock made contact, Zim ducked back down, watching and waiting for a reaction, whilst blindly searching for another bullet with his hand.

In a matter of seconds, the whole scene changed too fast: When he felt Keef's hand after what after he listened, Dib's eyes widened in surprise. But before he could say something or even jerk his hand away, Keef suddenly cried out in pain as something hit him out of nowhere.

He stumbled to the ground and held his head, a small stream of blood was seen under his hand.

"SHIT, SHIT! What the hell was that? Ouch. That HURTS!"

Dib stood there for some seconds and automatically looked over to a certain bush. He knew where that came from. Seeing the bloody stone on the ground and Keef's wound, he quickly knew what happened. Dib gave the bush a death glare, hoping that Zim would see it.

Debating what to do, he eventually kneeled down beside the ginger. He was torn apart between being mad at Zim and being worried about Keef. Well, time to deal with that green jerk later... But right now, Dib felt the need to help the other. After all, Keef didn't hurt somebody or even laugh once at Dib for being crazy and stuff. He was just... annoying sometimes. But that doesn't mean he deserved to get hit by a stone, coming from Zim.

"I-I don't know, Keef," Dib lied. "Somebody threw a rock at you, probably Torque or a buddy of his."

Reaching for Keef's head, he removed his hands from the wound. Sucking air through his teeth, the raven-haired boy tensed.

"Oh... looks bad."

Why didn't he just snatch the mobile phone from the ginger's pocket and run away, so their 'problem' would be solved. No photos and Zim would be safe. But Dib realized... he couldn't. He just couldn't do it! It was cruel. Just not fair. Dib was sure he would get the phone soon enough. And what Zim did was even worse. Well, he instinctively knew that the Irken threw that rock. It came from the direction where the bush was, right in the moment, when Keef took his hand and... Oh!

For a second, Dib's eyes widened, before he glared at the bush and shook his head. Then he turned back to Keef and helped him to get up.

"L-Let us get to the Nurse's Office, Keef. I-I'm sure it's not that bad, just a bit bloody."

Without any complains, the ginger boy grabbed Dib's arm and looked down as they silently walked into the building. Despite his painful expression, Keef glanced to Dib now and then, causing a small smile appear on his face, while Dib looked straight ahead. Worried and confused.

Grinning as he watched Keef clutch his head in pain, Zim eventually found another stone. This one was slightly bigger than the previous, and with more pointed edges. Perfect... Just as he was about to throw it, he caught Dib's glare, which was directed... _at him_?

Lowering his arm slightly, Zim watched with wide eyes... This wasn't the reaction he had hoped for... not at all. He had thought that Dib would just grab the stupid phone and be done with it. But no... he was helping the other?

Eyes narrowing in confusion and anger, his mouth opened slightly in disbelief as he watched Dib kneel down and inspect Keef's wound. He genuinely looked worried.

Why would Dib be worried about Keef? They both hated him!

...Right?

Apparently the other didn't as much as he did. Zim soon received yet another glare which caused his arm to lower completely, but still held onto the stone.

Why was he angry at him? Sure he'd injured the ginger kid, but he deserved it! Holding his human's hand like that... Only Zim was allowed to do that! Well, in the Irken's mind at least... Maybe Dib had other thoughts on the matter.

Despite the warm weather, a rather cold breeze swept past Zim, which caused his mood to drop even more. He was angry, yeah, but also confused... and he hated to be confused. Sighing, he watched as the two of them walked back into Skool.

"Huh?" Zim questioned to himself. Standing up, he changed his hiding spot to the corner of the building, as he carried on staring. The sight which greeted him was horrible!

Keef was clinging onto Dib's arm in an almost needy manner, and Dib wasn't doing a thing to stop him! Not ONLY that, but Keef was also smiling. How dare that boy be happy with Dib, whilst Zim couldn't!

Dib was HIS mate... not that stupid ginger kid's.

Once they were gone from sight, Zim turned around so he was leaning on the wall, before sliding down into a sitting position. Bringing his knees to his chest, Zim's grip on the rock tightened, before throwing it into the bush in frustration.

"Stupid humans..." He mumbled to himself, before resting his forehead on his knees, waiting.

Finally, they reached the Nurse's Office. Dib got really nervous at how close Keef was, gripping at him rather tight. 'Did it hurt that much?' he silently asked himself as he knocked on the door. Keef just whined now and then.

"Why was someone throwing a damn stone at me?!" he mumbled before they got in.

A grumpy, fat lady with a cigarette in her mouth inspected Keef's head for a minute, before saying: "Nothing serious. Just a small laceration." A few stitches later, the two boys already exited the office again.

Keef still felt a bit dizzy, but was gladly surprised that Dib helped him. How nice and caring Dib could be... Since the last grade, Keef casted an eye on Dib, maybe even having a small crush on him. Not that he would admit that to anyone! As the ginger boy already lost his hope after he tried to be friends with Dib last year. So he never expected to interact with him more than a few words in class.

But a few minutes ago... he suddenly stood before him, without glasses and shoes. For Keef, Dib looked even more... handsome, like that. Maybe... he could be Dib's friend? And maybe he was right all along. Zim really was an alien... right? Thinking about all this, Keef was still rather close to Dib as they stepped outside in the sunlight again.

Dib got more nervous because of their proximity, but said nothing. He just wanted to delete those pictures and persuade the other that there was no 'spaceship', that Zim wasn't an alien. Funny, since a week ago, he tried to persuade everyone the exact opposite.

"Thank y-you Dib." Keef said, as they both stood on the entrance stairs. The 'spaceship' on Dib's lawn, the photos and video suddenly weren't so important to him anymore... He looked up at Dib. "...For helping me. That was really n-nice of you."

This time, it was Keef who reached out his hand, grabbing Dib's one... Who nervously wriggled his hand out of the ginger boys grip, while speaking.

"N-Nevermind, Keef. But, umm... I suddenly realized I have to call my... my father, yes. it's important. Sooo, can I use your phone for a second, please?" He should have tried to use this simple lie sooner.

"Hmm? Sure." Keef replied, a bit disappointed about the other's disapprove. "But after that, we can go to the spaceship, 'kay? I'm sure it's still there. You must see it!"

Already getting excited again, Keef watched as the other boy walked away a few meters. Seemed like a private call... So, the orange-haired teen patiently waited for Dib to finish...

After merely a minute, Dib returned. He didn't look so nervous anymore, more relieved, in contrast to his words.

"I'm sorry, Keef. But I have to go now... my father is picking me up from here. You don't have to wait here. We can inspect your 'spaceship' another time, maybe tomorrow. Okay? It really is a submarine!" Dib decided that it wasn't really necessary to persuade Keef. The hard evidence was already deleted. If it was real evidence in the first place, since the people, at least in this city, seemed to be rather... dumb. And probably Keef would drop the whole idea of the space ship and 'Zim being an alien' after he found no such thing anymore at the Membrane household. Hopefully. Heh, Keef somewhat reminded him of himself in that moment...

"Oh, okay. See ya' tomorrow then, Dib!" And with that, the ginger boy darted away.

When he was out of sight, Dib let out a relieved sigh, thinking that the 'small crisis' was over. Well, the aftermath would come now.

When he reached the bush, he looked around, until he saw Zim at the near wall of the building. Dib wasn't very pleased with the Irken right now. So he just glared accusingly down at him.

It may have only been a few minutes that he was waiting, but to Zim, it felt like hours. All the kids had now completely gone and that had left him in complete silence besides the occasional bird going by or car passing.

His eyes were locked on a singular blade of grass, watching it as it bent this way and that. Yet, he wasn't fully focused on that... His mind was replaying the scene which he had just witnessed.

Zim now understood why he was jealous, and accepted that, but it was the thought of Keef being anywhere near Dib which caused his blood to boil. And, at that very moment, they were both inside... _together_.

Clenching his teeth, Zim began to tug out hand-fulls of grass, imagining it was that ginger boy's hair... Yanking it out, right off his screaming head. Even this didn't help with his growing fury.

How Keef had held Dib's hand... That was like how him and Dib had started to become friends... which soon grew into special friends... then eventually into mates. What if that happened with Keef!? No... no it wouldn't... **couldn't**.

Sighing, Zim shut his eyes for a moment, and switched from pulling the grass to clawing at the dirt. He was worrying too much about something completely off topic... He should be worrying about Keef seeing the Voot Cruiser... not stealing Dib! Ugh...

Opening his eyes, the grass around him seemed somewhat darker, and Zim could no longer feel the sun's rays hitting him... Lifting up his head slightly, he could see two familiar, pale, bare feet...

Angry frown quickly turning into a blank expression, Zim lifted his head completely to look at Dib's face.

It was the same glare he had received from the rock-throw which was printed on the other's face...

"_Whaaat_?" Zim asked in a slightly more high-pitched voice, prolonging the word in confusion.

Dib sat beside the Irken and wondered why Zim was looking so confused. Wasn't it obvious?

"Y-You jerk! Why... Why did you threw a rock at Keef's head? I deleted the pictures and a video from his mobile phone. So that really wasn't necessary. I know you don't like humans, but Keef is harmless, now at least. He didn't hurt anyone, or me-"

Suddenly, the scene when they were holding hands for a few seconds popped up in his mind. Maybe that's why? Dib looked at Zim's hands and noticed all the dirt and grass sticking to them. Was Zim that angry? Maybe even... jealous? Oh... But that still wasn't a good reason for hurting Keef so bad. Zim overreacted. Because of... him. Dib. He suddenly felt an odd flattering feeling at one side and guilt on the other.

Dib's angry expression vanished as he reached for Zim's hands. He roughly cleaned them off on his pants before resting them in his lap, cupped by his own hands. He could feel that one of Zim's hands was still kinda wet, somehow sticky...

"How... how did it feel when you saw that? When I... talked with Keef... helped him and such...? Was it t-that bad for you, Zim?"

He wasn't really mad at his Irken anymore, but just wanted an answer why he acted that way. So... aggressive.

At the first telling off, Zim cringed slightly and returned his gaze to the ground. Before, these type of words would just be brushed off without a second thought, maybe even an angry response would become present, but now it stung quite a bit. Especially the first insult...

Zim knew that the only reason Dib had been nice to Keef to begin with was to protect him, but once the ginger got hurt... Dib seemed to really care for him... And comparing that attitude to his now... well, it made the Irken feel rather guilty.

Avoiding Dib's gaze at all cost, Zim bit his lower lip once again to stop an upset expression making its way on his face. It worked, just about.

Before he could respond, he felt his hands get snatched, but still he didn't look at the other. He was fearing that glare to still be there, anger in Dib's eyes... Yet, hearing the question, the other's tone didn't sound angry... more curious and confused.

Sighing, Zim closed his own eyes for a moment or so, before finally looking to Dib's face. There was no glare in sight, thankfully.

"...Y-Yes..."

Was his simple answer. Yet, Zim realized that the other probably wanted more of an answer that.

"He touched Irken property..." He huffed, face turning into an angry frown. "No-one... holds MY human's hand. Your hand belongs to Zim. Your arm-"

He glanced to the arm which Keef had grabbed

"-belongs to Zim! YOU belong to Zim!" He ended up shouting, anger returning at the memory of how happy Keef had looked... smiling whilst holding onto Dib's arm... His head wasn't injured enough for that to be necessary... yet he had!

Dib just sat there and listened closely to the few, yet meaningful words coming from Zim. His eyes widened in astonishment. And when the other shouted at him like that, so... mad, Dib flinched visibly; and not only because Zim dug his claws into his hands at his last words. No. But that didn't make the boy release the Irken's hands. If anything, Dib only gripped tighter at them...

For a bunch of seconds there was silence. Dib didn't know what to say; he felt so bad all of a sudden. Guilty, like he somehow betrayed Zim. In addition, he began to feel dizzy, so he shook his head. How stupid of him to forget his glasses. However, he needed to say something, because when he looked back up at Zim, a expectant, and somewhat hurt look met Dib's eyes.

He knew he belonged to Zim, even was his human pet. But Dib never thought that the other was so possessive. About him, his mate... In a less serious situation, the boy would smile at that, knowing how much he meant to Zim. But right now, it made him feel more guilty. His head dropped in shame when Dib finally spoke up, focusing on their touching hands in his lap.

"...I'm sorry... I-I was only trying to be... nice to Keef. To get that phone without a fight or something." That scene played itself in his mind up and down.

"After... after he showed me these pictures, I asked him t-to give me the phone for a moment, so I... I-I reached out my hand. And somehow, he must have m-misunderstood that gesture and said something about 'showing me the space ship'. S-Suddenly, Keef grabbed my hand. I was startled, of course! But before I could jerk my hand back... well, in the next moment he laid on the ground, bleeding."

Rubbing his eyes with one hand to get rid of that itchy feeling, Dib continued, a bit quieter.

"...I tried to help him. I just c-couldn't snatch his phone and run away, l-leaving him there, injured. I... just couldn't! He may be annoying, but Keef isn't a bad guy, he didn't deserve this."

Finally, he got the courage to look into Zim's eyes again, which didn't look so angry anymore. So Dib relaxed a bit and got more pleadingly.

"Now I s-see... how it all had looked like for you. But I swear... I-I didn't take his hand, Zim! He took mine. M-Maybe I should have reacted sooner, but I... well, I didn't want to do something dumb. I thought about how to persuade him. T-That you're NOT an alien... that there was no spaceship at my house. A-And after that... he was just thankful for my help. Nothing bad! And then I was-"

Shaking his head, Dib turned their hands, so that now Zim's were on top of his own, neatly placed on his legs.

"I'm such a babbler, aren't I?" He mumbled, though smiling. "Zim, all I wanna say is... I-I am sorry... Y-You got a reason for throwing that stone... I guess. Maybe you overreacted a bit, maybe not... And of course you're right: I only belong to you. I'm YOUR pet, and you're my Zimmy!" After some silent seconds, he smiled at Zim and crawled closer.

"...Dib is loyal to Zim... I promise."

One thing was certain, and that was that Zim had not been expecting such a long and detailed explanation. He wasn't complaining though, in truth, he was actually quite happy for it. It just proved how determined the human was to be understood.

Whilst listening to Dib, gradually the frown which had been on his face lessened until it was just a mildly annoyed pout. Well, that did explain a few things... Such as how the hand-holding had began. Zim was correct about Dib asking for the phone after all! It was just Keef who had got the wrong idea. Ugh, this only increased his hatred towards that kid...

"Well... if he ever lays a hand on you again, the stone-wound will look mild compared to what I'll do next time," he warned, glancing to the abused dirt which he had clawed at previously. Yet, he was glad that the photos were deleted and out of mind... Hopefully Keef would just forget about the ship now. Especially since Zim was going to be sure to keep it out of sight from now on.

Looking towards the Voot Cruiser, it only just hit him how dangerous it was... Not from crashing or anything like that, but just from a human... a CHILD, seeing it.

Sighing slightly, Zim looked back to Dib, noticing the smile stretched across his face, which he soon returned. Now that the other was closer, the Irken took advantage of the moment and rested his head on the human's shoulder.

"And yes, you sometimes are a babbler... You just have a lot going round in that big head of yours," Zim teased, smirking slightly.

As soon as he felt that additional weight on his shoulder, Dib relaxed greatly, as he got the feeling that every word of his previous explanation was worth to be said and got the effect Dib hoped for. Now he was relieved that Zim apparently understood him, even if it was slightly scary how Zim threatened Keef. But Dib assumed that he wouldn't be a problem to the both of them anymore, hopefully... Still, he always was at least a bit worried about Zim's safety. But that was normal, he guessed. But for now, he just enjoyed their closeness, and if his hands weren't already buried under Zim's, Dib would hug him really tight, heh.

"...My head's not big! Well, at least not... so much. A bit more than average and- Ugh, n-nevermind. I'm babbling again..." Well, when he was nervous, Dib couldn't help the spill of words coming from his mouth, but this time he managed to shut up and closed his eyes... yep, that kind of silence was a nice one.

The Irken's previous words flowed through his mind: '...MY human... YOU belong to Zim... Irken property...' That gave Dib such weird feelings... Zim was so serious about it. Obviously, he cared a whole lot about Dib, the lonely, 'crazy' and neglected teen. But Zim changed that, so quickly... Zim really loved him, Dib was never so sure of this. His Irken just showed that in a very possessive way. Dib just needed to get used to this, but was happy nonetheless. It just showed him how unique Zim was... HIS Zimmy.

So, two minutes passed... three passed, both of them sitting on the bare soil beside a huge bush at Skool...

Eventually, Dib broke the silence, whispering. "Can we g-get back home now- I-I mean... to your base, Zim? We have to clean ourselves and stuff..." Opening his eyes again, he grinned happily to himself, thinking of what might come when they're done with that.

"...A-And after that we could, well... m-maybe continue the current moment. But in a more... comfy place."

Hearing Dib's suggestion, Zim's gaze immediately dropped to his hand, which still had some dry 'stuff' on it. "O-Of course, but first we need to get your glasses... As much as I like your eyes, Dib-pet, you can't be half blind," Zim explained, blushing slightly at the memory of that morning.

Freeing his hands from the other's grasp, he stood up and dusted himself off. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to sit in the dirt for so long.

Walking up to the hidden ship, Zim placed one hand on the outside of the vehicle in thought. It was kind of funny... On Irk, Voot Cruisers were one of the most 'out-of-date' Irken ships, yet on Earth, anyone who saw it seemed so amazed by it. The Irken was still very proud of his ship... Yet it had caused so many problems in the past. An example of this was that baby-looking race, he couldn't quite remember the name... But well remembered their leader. Snooki... Ugh. And how they wanted his ship to go back to their home planet. Well, of course Zim won in the end! Obviously. Another one was when the ship crashed in the local park, and that group of spaceship morons had found it... Heh, there were quite a few close calls in the past it seemed.

Climbing into the ship, Zim was just about to take the controls when an even better idea came into mind. Turning to face Dib, Zim patted the driver's seat with his hand, non-verbally telling the other to sit down.

"Does the Dib-human want to drive?" He asked, wanting to see if the other had remembered his lesson.

Standing there, unsure, Dib thought about it and climbed into the ship and sat hesitantly in the pilot's chair, Zim to his right. He glanced out and blinked a few times.

"If you t-think I wouldn't cause an almost-crash again..." he mumbled worriedly and searched for the right buttons. Soon, the hatch swooshed close and the engine started.

"But we need to get very high up first." The way to his house wasn't far, but still... it was risky enough to use the Voot on bright daylight, so it needed to be unseen most of the way.

After a last glance to Zim beside him, Dib tightly grabbed the controller and carefully moved it to his body, making the ship rise. It was too slow first, so he pulled more and instantly, the Voot shot up in the sky, the cities surface getting smaller and smaller and eventually out of sight.

When they stopped, Dib saw a huge cloud and managed to fly directly into it, so they were now covered in pure white fluff. Now the boy felt strangely safe, being alone with Zim and out of sight.

"Heh... that was fun. I-I think I figured out how to start the ship and get it up." But there was that dizziness again, caused by his blurred vision when it comes to far distance views. Dib let go of the controller and looked at the Irken.

"But I doubt I could fly us to the base. N-Not without my glasses. I d-don't want to cause any more backflips, Zim." Looking around, at all the surrounding cloudy mass, Dib couldn't help but giggle. "Heh, and now... we're trapped in cotton candy!"

Chuckling slightly at Dib's worried words, Zim slowly shook his head at the other's attitude towards flying his ship. But before, the first time Dib had flown the Cruiser, he was worried to start with, but then eventually relaxed and began to have fun... Heh, until the backflips at least. So hopefully that would happen again. _Not the backflip part_, but him enjoying it.

Watching the human's movements, Zim smiled slightly at how he didn't have to remind him of a singular control. Somehow, he felt rather proud of Dib for being such a quick learner. At the sudden change in speed in rising, it caused the Irken to stumble slightly, but he quickly regained his balance.

He guessed that after the whole 'Keef incident', Dib wasn't going to take any chances with anyone seeing the ship. That somehow made Zim feel quite... happy. Would that be the correct word? Maybe. Just the fact of that seemed so... special. He didn't know how, but it just did.

One second the afternoon sun could be clearly seen, but after another, everything was white and cloudy.

"What is it with you and cloud killing?" Zim teased, laughing slightly whilst looking at the fluff they were in.

It was way different from just looking at one from the distance... Rolling his eyes at hearing Dib's giggle, he moved his hands to the now free controls.

"So, lets go get your eye-windows..." He mumbled, before sending the ship down slightly so the city was in view. After a minute or so of searching, Zim eventually spotted Dib's familiar house, and flew towards it. Didn't take long to reach the ground, but this time instead of landing in the street, landed in the other's backyard.

"Zim will wait here and guard the ship," he said once the hatch was open.

"Well, I like clouds," the boy simply replied and hopped out on the lawn.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" He called and darted off into the house...

"Where were you?" The oh so familiar, dark voice of Gaz greeted him, when Dib entered the living room, already standing on the first step of the stairs. He guessed it wouldn't hurt if his sister knew that he and Zim were 'friends'. At least, she would assume that.

"Uh, I was at Zim's house, yeah. And now... I'm just getting my glasses and you don't have to see me anymore for today." And with that, he ran up the steps and into his room...

"Heh, I wondered when they would began to like each other..." Gaz quietly mumbled to herself and then she even smiled a tiny bit.

She didn't know the exact circumstances, but was glad that Dib finally had a friend. He seemed so happy when she briefly saw him those few times in the past days. Not that Gaz would ever admit that thought aloud! But, as strange it sounds, she loved her brother...

Back inside Dib's room, its owner grabbed the glasses from the nightstand, sighed relieved and looked around. The first thing he noticed were all the ripped posters on the floor. Which showed Zim, without a disguise... Right, he shouted at them and ripped all the pictures off the wall. Because of that 'camera incident'... The boy bent down and picked up the nearest image.

It showed the former invader outside, at night. Walking GIR in his dog costume. Yeah, he remembered... Zim sometimes had the habit to go out late, past midnight, without his disguise on. Dib guessed the Irken enjoyed it to not have the need to wear his contacts and wig. And even talked to GIR on rare occasions.

Dib smiled at the poster and circled one of Zim's printed eyes with his fingers. Maybe he could keep this one? But... after some moments of thought, he ripped it apart too, and went to collect all the others, spread out on the floor. No, he didn't need them anymore, since now he would see Zim way more often in his true form... his beautiful one. Sometimes even without clothes... heh.

All the pictures, and posters end up in the bin, crumbled and ripped, just like Dib's old, stalking self; who wanted to dissect the Irken and show all the world his alien form. Ugh, now he wouldn't want that for all the money in the world. Quite the opposite. Zim needed to be safe and unexposed... Anyhow, after that riddance of old ballast, Dib put on his glasses and let out a relieved sigh. Yay! Way better. The light dizziness already faded and was replaced with a crystal clear vision.

And off he went, taking two steps at once and ran out on the lawn, a wide beaming grin on his face and ready to spent the rest of the day with his Irken. Hopefully in peace, just the two of them...

The moment Dib had left, the silence -which was quite similar to the one at Skool- soon returned, yet this time it was more of a... 'calm' silence. Zim kept his eyes on the retreating human until the door had shut behind him, and even after that, the door stayed the focus of his gaze. It was as if he was willing the other to return faster, even through he well knew that Dib had just left.

Letting out a breath of slight amusement, Zim leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms, eyes switching from the back door to the rest of the Membrane house. It was slightly taller than the other houses on this street... yet that was quite good, since it was easier to spot when walking past or landing the Voot Cruiser. It was also looked quite high tech, well, that wasn't too surprising... being the home of the 'famous Professor Membrane' and all...

Heh, what an excuse for a father...

What Zim had seen of him, and heard from Dib in the past, he was a genius, granted, but also a terrible parent. Never enough time to make time for his children... Probably didn't know he had them half the time.

'Poor Dib...' Zim mentally pitied, shaking his head slightly in disapproval. Yet, Dib actually seemed quite... happy most of the time. Well, recently at least. No 'emotional breakdowns' for awhile. Thankfully.

He guessed that was mostly since they became mates recently.

Smiling slightly to himself, Zim looked down at the shirt which the human had brought for him. This brought back the memory of their shopping trip. What a day that was! Funny, awkward and meaningful all in one activity. The funny looking hats, the changing room scene and then Dib running off like he had... Heh, a lot to go through in one day.

Jumping slightly at the sound of a opening door, Zim looked up from his thoughts and saw a grinning Dib running towards the ship.

'Why's he so happy?' He silently questioned, returning the smile, whilst shuffling out of the pilot's seat so the human could sit down.

His own smile increasing at seeing the Irken's one, Dib gladly hopped into the Voot and stood in front of Zim for a moment. They smiled at each other for some seconds, before Dib took a big step forward, grabbed Zim's shoulders and gave his mate a short kiss on the lips. Enough for Dib to get that unique Zim-taste he liked so much.

Leaning back, he flashed the Irken a last happy grin, before he went for the pilot's chair, closed the hatch and started the engine. No-one was seen on the streets for now, so better hurry.

"Let's get home..." He announced and lifted the ship.

Dib really looked forward to get to the base, sitting on the couch with Zim or... even better, cuddle for hours. Yeah, nice. Even GIR wasn't so scary to him anymore. You just need to know what you do and say in the robot's presence; then GIR could be rather funny. Dib got more and more used to the sensitivity of the Voot Cruiser's controls. So, without being too high, Dib controlled the ship directly towards the base, rather slow. Soon they hovered over its green roof.

Dib turned around and gave Zim a questioning look, since he wasn't sure where the button was to open the roof.

They boy really didn't want to cause any more backflips.

At the sudden kiss, Zim's eyes widened for a moment or so, before going half-lidded. Yet, before he could kiss back, Dib was already in the pilot's seat, getting ready to take off. This left a smile on the Irken's face, and at the other's last words, that smile only increased.

He'd heard Dib call the base 'home' a few times now, but he'd always cover it up and act like he'd said nothing out of the ordinary... Yet this time, he seemed to gladly say it. This fact made Zim very happy... Very happy indeed. If Dib wasn't already flying the Voot, then he would probably give him a hug, or take his turn to kiss the human. So instead, he made a mental note to do exactly that when back at the base. Zim was just glad that the other was comfortable enough in his base to even consider calling it 'home'. Heh, and it had only been a few days!

After a few more moments, he soon realized that they were no longer moving, but instead just hovering above the base. Looking at Dib, Zim noticed the questioning look which he was making, and understood what the other was trying to say. Leaning over to the controls, he pointed to the flashing button, making sure the human could see it, before pressing it. Sure enough, the roof opened and the ship began its descent.

"Not bad. Not bad at all, Dib-pet. You remembered pretty much everything," Zim congratulated, watching as the roof re-closed above them.

"R-Really? Well... thank you, Zim! I think it's not that hard once you got the knack of it, heh."

Dib waited for the Voot to land on the centre of the room with a whooshing sound. Letting out a content sigh, Dib turned to Zim and grabbed his hand, so they both climbed out of the ship. Once their feet touched the ground, Dib was suddenly not sure about what to say. He didn't know if Zim wanted to do something certain.

He shuffled his feet, clutching onto the Irken's hand, and looked down a bit.

"So... w-what you wanna d-do now, Zim...? E-Everything's fine with me, a-as long as your with me."

He didn't know why, but slowly Dib felt his face getting warmer, since now he looked up at Zim and gave him a shy smile.


	47. Chapter 47

Finding the almost unknowing and awkward look on Dib's face quite funny, Zim just chuckled slightly. Well, one of the main reasons they returned to the base was to clean themselves up, so that was probably on their 'to do' list.

Looking towards their interlocked hands, it was then he noticed that, that was the clean hand, so that meant his free one had the 'goo' on it... Suddenly he got an idea how to make his response a bit more... 'interesting'.

Stepping slightly closer towards Dib, Zim's eyes went half lidded as a half-smirk appeared on his face. After the past few days, he'd learnt a lot about the way people -mainly him and Dib- act right before a 'moment'... especially this morning. Time to put it to good use.

"Zim thinks you know what..." He mumbled, trying to imitate the seductive tone Dib had used a few times in the past, whilst taking another step closer to the other.

Reaching up his free hand, Zim brushed away a piece of loose hair which was hanging scruffily down in front of Dib's face.

"And... it mainly involves this..." He added, raising his palm so Dib could see the dried 'stuff'. Remembering his mental note, the Irken's smirk only increased.

Now standing on his tip-toes, so his face was dangerously close to the human's, he whispered.

"And that is..." Trailing off, he let their lips meet for several seconds before pulling away. Their lack of distance stayed the same for around 15 seconds, before he finally let Dib have his personal space back.

"...Cleaning!" Zim finished, yelling slightly, before bursting into a fit of giggles.

He found Dib's shocked expression extremely funny, and just hoped the other wouldn't be upset about the little 'play'.

Well, Dib just asked, because he was curious about what the other could have in mind. He half expected that Zim didn't really know what to do either, so they both eventually would end up on the couch or the bed... sitting there and talking about each other, maybe holding hands, cuddle a bit here and there. And just like the boy said: everything was fine with him, because Dib really enjoyed the Irken's presence recently.

Since they were mates, he saw Zim slightly different. He couldn't stop thinking about what was going on inside his Irken's head. And physically, he wanted to be near Zim. Heh, he was his owner after all. But also, he was more worried about his safety; the 'Keef incident' just now proved that very well. Or when Dib first saw the Voot in front of his house this morning...

Suddenly he sensed a movement and quickly lifted his gaze. And which followed then surprised Dib pretty much. When he heard that few words and especially the voice Zim was using... The Irken used that seducing tone just once by now. When they had their long and naked 'moment' this morning... So Dib wasn't used to it, so it caused a tiny shudder, barely noticeable running down Dib's spine.

And Zim's closeness didn't help, not in the slightest.

When he felt a touch on his face, Dib tensed and his face instantly flared up. Oh boy... Zim could be so... so tempting, so irresistible. But the boy tried to stay unmoving, wanting to let Zim speak.

But when the Irken continued and showed his hand, with his 'stuff' on it. The hand which made him feel so good, made him... come... along with the few whispered words... That immediately brought back the memory of their 'moment'. A small whimper escaped Dib.

Zim was so near now, Dib's nose almost touched his face! It made the boy so dizzy... He gulped and couldn't say anything. He gripped Zim's hand only tighter, while his free one began to shake and slowly moved forward, until...

The next moment, he felt the other's lips on his own. Dib's eyes fell half-lidden and he relaxed greatly at this. A comfy, warm feeling flooded his mind. He felt his heart racing in his chest and his legs begin to shake. But before he was able to kiss back, their mouths already parted.

Just that small gesture and the unique voice Zim used was making the boy feel like wax... His tingling mouth formed a smile when he looked at Zim. Dib wanted to say... something. But their closeness made it silenced him. So for 15 seconds, they just looked at each other...

What would Zim say?

When the Irken declared that last word, rather loud, Dib's mind was harshly jerked back into reality. His eyes shot wide open, while his mouth opened. But for several moments, he just stood there.

"W-What?... Cleaning? I-I thought... you... w-we would..." The poor perplexed Dib stammered.

Right, they originally wanted to clean themselves first. After a disappointed sigh, the boy composed himself again. He made a pouting face and looked to the floor.

"Fine," he mumbled. "...Y-You're evil, you know that?"

How dare Zim tease him like that? Of course he wasn't really mad at the Irken, more surprised and confused that this little 'play' worked so well! Slowly, all the warm sensations he felt faded away.

To show that he wasn't angry or something, Dib smiled at Zim and squeezed his hand.

"Heh, I know," Zim stated in a slight sing-song voice, sounding quite proud of himself for such a performance.

From Dib's reactions, it seemed it was quite believable and effective. He stored this information at the back of his mind for later use. Who knows, it could be used to his advantage.

Happily converting his weight from the back of his feet to his toes and then repeating, Zim returned the smile before tugging lightly on their interlocked hands, indicating for Dib to follow him.

They both made their way to the elevator, and once they were in, he pressed a button which he hadn't had to use for awhile. It was just underneath the lab's level, and the label next to it read (in Irken):

'_Cleaning Facilities_'.

The elevator started up with its usual 'whirr'. It started off its normal, quiet volume, but as soon as it went past the lab's floor the noise soon increased, suggesting that this room hadn't been used a lot of times. Well, it wasn't needed too much, since Irkens were naturally clean and rarely needed manual cleaning. Yet, there was some types of substances which couldn't be removed without the aid of a wash room. Such things as 'stuff'...

Hiding that hand behind his back, Zim waited patiently for the doors to open. As soon as the arrival 'ping' was heard, the Irken continued to drag the other out of the elevator, and down a short hallway.

"As you may have guessed, this place doesn't use your Earth water as its main resource, as your human homes do. Too dangerous. And thinking about the way water effects me... I don't know how the Irken equivalent of water will effect you..." Zim admitted once they reached their destination.

The room was quite large compared to most bathrooms, and didn't contain such things as a toilet, sink or shower. No, but, it did have something similar to a bath in the middle of the room, but even that was quite big.

"There are two options... Either use the 'water' from the container as you would from a sink... o-or... use it l-like you would a human b-bath..." Zim explained, mumbling the last part awkwardly.

From hearing the other's happy response Dib's smile turned into a pout for a brief moment again. While he was dragged into the elevator he still was surprised how well Zim had learned about nice touches and getting the reaction from him he wanted. The show just now made that crystal clear.

But like the first time, Dib couldn't help but grin to himself again how much he liked that side of the Irken. Controlling, almost... manipulating. But in a good way! Which, of course, wouldn't stop Dib from trying to seduce Zim now and then... to get what he wants.

However, that thoughts came to an end, when he heard a 'ping' and the swooshing doors, which revealed the view to an gloomy alley. After a short walk, they entered a room Dib never saw before. Now that sparkled the teen's curiosity. A single bath tube in the centre was almost the only thing in there. And it was already filled with... a strange gooey substance. While listening to Zim's explanation, Dib let go of his hand and slowly made his way to the container.

He kneeled beside it and carefully dived his index finger into it. Worried about what would happen, Dib closed his eyes and waited some seconds... It was warm and... well, produced an ever so slight sizzling on his finger. Waiting a bit more, nothing further happened.

"It's just... warm and tickles a bit. I think it wouldn't hurt me or something," Dib declared, while looking at the rippling surface. It really looked like a big bathtub. And Zim suggested that it could be used as such... To be honest, taking a bath sounded too alluring and relaxing to say no. And the tub looked quite big. Maybe big enough for...- Dib's face quickly reddened again, almost just like before, when he thought about that idea. About him and Zim sharing a bath...

Turning around to Zim, Dib stood up, rubbing his arm nervously.

"W-Well, I really would like t-to have a bath, Zim. Umm... would y-you... I mean... would you like to... t-to share a bath with me? I-It looks comfy and... b-big big enough for t-two..."

Watching as Dib tested the water, Zim subconsciously held his breath in anticipation. He just hoped that the liquid didn't have any negative effects on his mate, and sure enough, it didn't. Letting out his breath, Zim was relieved for sure, even happy for the other, but was also somewhat annoyed. Annoyed at how Earth water harmed Irkens, but Irken water didn't harm humans... Heh, that had actually been one of his plans for world conquest before that last transmission from the Tallest...

Shaking his head slightly, the Irken just smiled slightly as he waited for Dib to be done viewing his latest 'discovery'. He found the other's curiosity quite amusing sometimes. Especially when it was about something as simple as that. But then again, Zim had acted quite similar when he first saw rain... Well, with more screeching and burning, but still, he was interested.

Hearing the human's question, Zim returned his gaze to Dib's now red face and nervous position. Blushing himself, he tried to suppress the images which were beginning to form in his mind at the suggestion.

"I-If you want a bath... t-then that's fine... A-And if you w-want Zim to... accompany you... t-that's also f-fine..." He mumbled, tensing slightly in embarrassment. Heh, this would be the second time today that they had both seen each other then...

Blush increasing at the memories, Zim pointed a shaky hand to one corner on the other side of the room, whilst speaking.

"Dib-pet w-will get changed over t-there, whilst Zim gets changed over h-here," he instructed, before walking to his corner. He didn't know why he was acting like this, so embarrassed, after all... they had both seen each other before, but still... It would still feel awkward or embarrassing undressing so near the other.

"And face t-the wall..." Zim added, mumbling slightly, as he reached for his shirt sleeve and turning away from the human.

When the Irken really said yes about his plea, Dib only got more nervous, but also quite excited. Zim and him... being naked and sitting in a goo-filled tub, so near each other... Dib had to bite his lower lip, when he thought about that, to prevent a tiny squeal escaping his mouth.

Still, he felt rather relived about the Irken's further instructions. It wouldn't feel too weird, if they changed separately, not seeing each other while doing so.

"O-Okay," he said, got to his corner and took off his shirt. Soon, his pants fell to the floor too. After a moment of consideration, Dib took off his glasses too, since they would be rather close to each other anyway... besides, Zim liked his eyes, so Dib would gladly to show off a bit, heh. Another deep breath later, his UFO-boxers joined the heap of clothes, which he kicked to the wall. There he stood, his back to the tub and Zim, naked and slightly freezing.

Well, warm goo and his not less naked mate were awaiting him, so he silently grinned to himself, still quiet nervous about the situation.

"...I'm done, Z-Zim," he said and pulled himself into a loose hug.

Waiting until he heard the movement of clothing from Dib's side of the room before removing any of his own, Zim's eyes stayed locked on the wall in front of him, blush never leaving his face, even for a second.

When he originally said about cleaning, he thought they'd take turns... yet, this idea seemed somewhat... better, but also more embarrassing. Once he heard moving fabric, that's when the Irken decided too as well.

His shirt was the first to go, followed by his boots.

Removing his wig and contacts, Zim placed them carefully on top of his folded up shirt, so as not to dirty them... nothing worse than dirty contacts. Ugh.

Looking down to his jeans, it was then he realized that in the rush of putting them back on this morning, he had successfully managed to use the belt. Grinning to himself, he called over to the human.

"I did it! I-I did the belt!" Zim cheered, now working on taking it off. Took a few tries, but he got there eventually.

They were also soon off and left him just as exposed as Dib.

"Okay... I g-guessed we both get i-in the 'bath' now..." He said, turning around, but keeping his eyes on the floor as he made his way over to the container, knowing Dib was doing the same.

"Really?... H-Hey, that great. S-So you won't n-need my help anymore, heh..." Dib tried to change the mood a bit. After that, he indeed was doing the same and hesitantly made his way to the tub, also with his eyes glued to the floor.

He 'wouldn't mind' to have a look at his mate's body, but didn't want to make Zim feel more embarrassed than he already was, in case he would notice the boy's gaze... Reaching the strange container, lifted climbed in, so he sat on the edge of it for a moment, with his legs in the substance. Still not risking a glimpse, he slowly let himself glide into the pinkish gooey stuff. Oh... nice.

Instantly his whole body was engulfed in a pleasant warmth and due to its consistency, it felt even better than normal warm water. More... well, comfy. It wasn't so 'light' like water. More viscous, but not too much. It was still easy to move in it. And Dib was even able to fully stretch out his lanky legs, taking only half of the space. They would have more than enough space to... uhh, not being too cramped, yeah!

"C-Come in, Zim... I'll just close my eyes, 'k-kay?" he did as he told and waited for the Irken to join him, a content smile on his face.

Finally raising his gaze when he heard Dib call his name, Zim smiled thankfully as he heard the suggestion, and nodded to himself in agreement.

"O-Okay," he mumbled as he stepped closer to the container, hands located shyly at his chest.

He didn't know why he was so embarrassed about being this exposed in front of the other, after all, they had done much 'worse' this morning. And Dib was in the same 'exposed state'. Ugh, these thoughts didn't help anything.

Cringing slightly from the memories, and from the coldness of the room, Zim decided now it was his turn to enter the bath.

Once he had reached the opposite end of the bath to which Dib was in, the Irken took a quick, yet deep breath in, before lowering himself into the warm 'water' also.

It was an extremely nice change compared to the freezing temperature of the rest of this room. The water reached just above his shoulders once he had sat down. Looking at Dib's closed eyes, Zim relaxed greatly, knowing the other hadn't seen anything, and had kept his word.

"You can open y-your eyes now, Dib-pet," he said, probably stating the obvious, since the human obviously heard him get in. After all, liquid doesn't stay silent.

Lowering his head slightly so his lower face was just under the surface, Zim closed his eyes for a few seconds, enjoying the clean, soothing feeling of the gel-like liquid.

Dib did as he was told and was greeted with the view of Zim... Well, more one half of Zim's face, since the rest of his body vanished under the liquid's surface. And because it wasn't so transparent like normal water, so they couldn't really see the other's body under it. Dib wasn't sure if he should be glad for that, but it definitively was making the whole moment less awkward.

Looking at Zim's head, poking only halfway out with closed eyes, the boy chuckled.

"Heh, you l-look funny, Zim. Since I can only s-see the top of your head..." He began to move his arms a bit inside the substance.

"It's indeed a strange substance... f-for me; I feel an ever so s-slight sizzling a-all over my body..." Due to the silence around them, Dib spoke in a very calm voice, almost whispering. After some more seconds, he couldn't help but add worriedly.

"...That's normal, r-right? At least it's... a n-nice feeling."

Opening his eyes at hearing Dib speak, Zim's relaxed expression soon turned into a half interested, half embarrassed one. Lifting his head, he coughed a bit to clear his throat, more to suppress the awkwardness he was feeling than anything though.

"Hmm... It appears t-that maybe you humans aren't as completely immune to this stuff as I thought... Maybe it's the same effect that Earth water has on Irkens... only, less painful," Zim thought out loud, slightly annoyed, yet now fully focused on the area which Dib's skin met the 'water'.

Well, there was no steam visible... Yet, from the way the other had explained it as 'sizzling', it sounded practically the same, yet more mild.

"If i-it gets too bad, or begins to become p-painful, get out immediately," the Irken warned, not wanting his mate to get hurt.

Lifting up his hands slightly, Zim began to rub them together just above the water, as someone would do at a sink whilst washing their hands; since that's what he was basically doing. After a few moments, his once gooey hand was as clean as his other. That was one good thing about this liquid, no soap was needed. It naturally had a chemical in it which cleaned when necessary. But that also made it unfit for drinking... One of the 'logical' reasons why sodas and junk food were so popular with Irkens...

"No... there's no pain. I-I think, I can trust this s-stuff."

Along with his arms, Dib moved his legs 'underwater' and... felt his feet brushing against Zim's. Dib stopped and looked down. Heh, seems that this tub wasn't too big, so the boy could still make some physical contact. But he wasn't sure if Zim would allow that... Maybe he just wanted to get clean, nothing more. But for Dib, besides that, it was also a calm and intimate moment with the Irken. He was sharing a bath with his mate after all! And Zim was the one who seduced him before... yeah. So it was only fair if Dib could 'cuddle' with Zim...

Thinking he talked enough for now, with all his questions and stuff, Dib carefully got into a kneeling position and slowly moved closer to Zim, until his hands reached the other's three-toed feet. Dib grinned to himself as he began to gently massage them. But not enough to tickle Zim, hopefully.

Tensing as he felt his feet meet the other's pair, Zim moved his own towards himself slightly to avoid anymore contact. But that was short-lived, since soon it wasn't just Dib's feet which were touching with his own ones anymore, but instead was the human's hands.

It tickled ever so slightly, but otherwise felt rather nice and comforting.

The Irken would have allowed it if it had been in any other situation, but since the current moment mainly consisted of them both being fully exposed, and in a container of warm goo to wash themselves in, the contact caused a slight blush. Pulling his feet away quickly, Zim brought his knees to his chest protectively.

"N-No touchy!" Zim commanded, eyes narrowing slightly, not in anger, but almost... challenging, whilst pouting slightly.

Now that he thought about it... maybe he should have said 'no' to the whole sharing thing... especially after what he did once they both got out of the Voot cruiser moments ago.

Eyes widening slightly in realization, the Irken's blush only increased.

The boy's fingers only made contact with the Irken for mere seconds, because suddenly they were jerked away from Dib. A gasp escaped him and his hands flew up, out of the water. With wide eyes, Dib gulped and looked at the other's face. How dark and embarrassed it was... The boy quickly bowed his head.

Suddenly, he felt horribly guilty. The way how Zim said that, almost shouted. He felt like bad pet... Obviously, the Irken only wanted to get clean and did him a great favour by even joining him in the bathtub. And what was he doing? Touching Zim and invading his personal space even in that situation.

Shuffling to his end of the tub again, Dib let his arms lifelessly rest between his legs. His whole body slumped.

"...S-Sorry..." he muttered ashamed. He just thought, it would be welcome for Zim, if they 'cuddled' a bit. Especially, after Zim's 'show' a few minutes ago. For Dib, it clearly was a sign... But apparently, he was wrong.

"...I j-just thought that... you... ugh, n-nevermind."

Shaking his head, Dib wanted to explain his actions, why he wanted to touch Zim so often, being near him. But, knowing himself, that would most likely end in another rant. Which would annoy his Irken even more.

"I-I understand... no touchy..." And with that, the boy was silent and didn't flinch.

Noticing Dib's almost hurt response to his words, Zim's glare softened slightly as he scanned the other's position... It looked like the other really took the command to heart... Maybe even personally.

Sighing slightly, Zim changed so that he was now sitting cross-legged, arms folded loosely.

"Zim didn't mean it as an insult, Dib-pet... I just meant-"

Wait... what HAD he meant then? If it wasn't meant as a telling off, then what was it meant to be understood as?

"...It's just weird still... You know?" Zim finished, looking slightly ashamed himself now. They had only officially became mates this morning, and already, in one day, they had done 'stuff', and now shared the same bath!

At the moment, Dib looked like a depressed, stuffed doll, limbs hanging limply by his sides... Biting his lower lip in thought, Zim's gaze switched from Dib to the wall behind him and back again.

Suddenly, a thought popped in the Irken's head... a rather good one in fact! He knew this would basically go completely against his order just now... but if it would make the other happy again, then that was fine with him.

"B_uuu_t...~ Now that I think about it... You stopped that horrible Keef-creature from thinking that I am an alien, and having those pictures on his phone-device... And that wasn't even an order... So, my pet did something good by itself! And I think... that deserves a... little reward. Don't you?" Zim mumbled, smirk reappearing and he gently tapped his chin in fake-thought.

"And since you seem so... what's the word... 'keen' to cuddle with Zim again... I think that's good enough." He finished, lifting up his arms and making grabbing motions, much like Dib had done in the past.


	48. Chapter 48

Dib was afraid that this thick silence would continue, after what happened... But soon enough, he heard the other's apology. That striked his attention. And if that wasn't enough, what Zim said next was rather unexpected.

Dib lifted his head and stared at the Irken's grabbing hands and back to his face, with wide eyes. Well, now he was confused.

"B-But... you just said... no t-touches..." He mustered Zim's face, trying to read it, but everything he saw was a sincere and offering smile. Dib couldn't help but smile back at that.

Ever so slowly, he moved closer to the Irken on his knees, his hands on the tub's edges, until he was sitting between Zim's legs. He didn't want to startle the other, so Dib very carefully draped his right arm around Zim's neck and the left one under an outstretched Irken one. Shuffling an inch closer, Dib kept a loose hug around his mate and rested his head on a shoulder. For a few very long seconds, he enjoyed the warm liquid around him and the being in his arms.

"It IS weird..." the boy whispered. "But I'm starting... t-to get used to it."

He still wanted to know how Zim changed his mind so suddenly, but decided against it, thinking it would only cause more awkwardness. The feeling on the Irken's skin on his own always was so exciting and comforting. And the gooey substance they sat in somehow made it only better.

"I really like m-my reward, Zimmy..."

At Dib's first hesitation, a little voice in the back of Zim's head was screaming that it had been a bad idea to instantly go back on his words, yet he had felt kind of... mean, denying the other's affectionate touches just then. But, just as he was about to lower his arms, he noticed Dib's small smile, and how he was slowly moving closer.

Letting out a silent sigh, the blush increased slightly at the lack of space between the two of them, yet so did the pleasant twisting in his chest.

"Heh, I-I guessed you w-would," Zim mumbled, wrapping his arms around Dib's back in a returned hug.

He himself didn't know why he had changed his mind so quickly... All he knew was that he didn't like seeing the human look like he had... so upset, and unhappy. Especially from something that he had said! He preferred the other happy and smiling.

Zim couldn't see Dib's face anymore, since his head was on his shoulder, but he could guess from the situation that he was happy. From the way Dib had first responded though, he could tell that he was probably confused...

"You just looked s-so... miserable, over there... D-Did you just expect me to ignore that?" Zim questioned, nuzzling the other's cheek with his own slightly.

'Did I really look so... sad?' the boy couldn't help but ask himself mentally. Apparently, he did, since that fact was the reason for Zim's turn in opinion.

"Of course n-not!" Dib answered the other's question. "I know y-you wouldn't do that. It's just..." He hesitated with his words and nervously rubbed against Zim's back, trying to find the right words.

"I t-thought that... you'd find me t-too grabby and w-wanting... with all m-my touches."

Before anymore depressed thoughts could enter his mind, Dib pressed his cheek back and tightened his hug a tiny bit, being very attentive to the Irken's reactions.

Smiling contently at the tightened hug and other's words, Zim chuckled slightly in amusement.

"Well... sometimes you are, there's no denying that. But... but I-I like that about y-you... It's funny, at times," he admitted, looking down at the 'water' in front of him, watching as it moved slightly from time to time.

Beginning to quite enjoy the hug, and that combined with the warmth of the liquid made a rather good combination, enough so to cause a quiet purr to escape the Irken.

"Besides... I just don't like anyone t-touching my feet..." Zim added, changing his gaze to the area he knew his feet were. "Much like you didn't when I was inspecting your toes, awhile ago."

Heh, he remembered that... How ticklish Dib had been from the simple inspection, and how he used that to his advantage. Smile increasing at that memory, Zim removed one of his hands from the hug, and instead placed it just above the surface of the water, near the other's head. He had noticed how he had already placed half his own head in the liquid, yet the human hadn't. Time to change that.

After a moment or so of aiming, the Irken flicked at the water, causing some of it to hit the side of Dib's head; mostly he wanted to remove the tension which was still hanging in the air.

Hearing that his Irken liked that trait of him, being so 'grabby', made Dib's heart beat faster than it already was. For some moments, he was worried that maybe he should try to let Zim have his personal space more often. But hearing quite the opposite, he suppressed a squeal. Dib knew how much it meant, when Zim was saying something like that. So, even if it would be a simple compliment for most people, it meant so much more for the teen. Along with the Irken's words, Dib listened to his speeded heartbeat and just made some agreeing noises now and then...

'Heh, so maybe Zim is just as ticklish as I am, at the feet,' Dib mused when Zim spoke further. He most likely overreacted. That was nice to know... However, when it was silent, their 'moment' was beginning to feel a bit awkward again.

Dib sensed a movement and was about to say something, when suddenly... he got splashed! Guess who did this...

"H-Hey!" he complained, while chuckling and leaned back to (finally) see Zim's face. Which mostly contained an amused grin. He shook his head, so the first few drops landed on the floor and automatically copied Zim's expression.

"Don't try to start a fight, Zim!" the boy warned, getting into a playful mood. With two hands, he formed a bowl, scooped up some of the strange liquid, brought it right above the Irken's head... and let it slowly running down between his fingers.

"Heh, because I know h-how to fight back..."

The previous grin which had been on the Irken's face soon vanished as he watched Dib cup some of the 'water' in his hands, already knowing what the other planned on doing with it.

"Don't you even think about i-"

Too late.

Instantly squinting his eyes to avoid getting the liquid in them, Zim lifted up a hand to try and direct the falling water somewhere else, other than his head. It somewhat worked, but didn't keep him completely dry.

"Zim d-didn't do that much, human!" He whined, wiping some of the liquid off his face with his free hand. In some way, he found it kind of funny how they both had found yet another thing they could have a 'battle' with. Typical for them.

Once the water had stopped, the Irken lowered his hand and brought that to his face also. Once most of the liquid had gone, he put both of his hands back into the container, but kept his eyes closed.

"Now, now Dib-love... You didn't think I'd let you off with that, now did you?" Smirking reappearing, he positioned his hands so they were side-by-side underwater, right in front of Dib, ready for launching. "Because... I won't..." He finished, almost in a whisper.

Opening his eyes, he pulled his hand out of the 'water', so a good deal of the liquid went zooming up towards the other.

Luckily, it was a rather spacious tub... Because Dib fell backwards into the Irken version of water and caused a big splash, so this time, more than just a few drops left the container. Well, what else should he expected from Zim? So Dib quickly regained from his shock and emerged, snorting and already smiling again.

"Now you did even more," he whined just like Zim did, yet it was obvious that he had fun. The title 'Dib-love' floated around in his head. Zim just knew how to make him feel so... 'different'. But that didn't mean he would let Zim have the final word. Or rather, the final _splash._

He wiped his face off the substance, crawled back to his Irken... and brought his face dangerously close to Zim's, hopefully distracting the boy's green victim... For a brief moment, Dib closed his eyes and rubbed his nose between the Irkens eyes, like he did so many times before...

Then he positioned his sneaky hands on Zim's sides underwater, before he whispered: "Squirming Zimmy during bath... makes his Dib-pet really laugh!" And with that, he began his attack by tickling his 'evil' mate, by letting his fingers dance around on his stomach and hips, up and down.

Eyes widening as he watched Dib fall back into the liquid, Zim was slightly concerned to begin with. Worrying if that fall could have caused any minor injuries... or if the human had hit his head in some way! He was surprised how the splash had even caused the other to lose balance, but didn't question it too much. Yet, only after a few seconds, the other popped right back up and began complaining.

This only caused the Irken to chuckle slightly.

It didn't last long though, since soon their faces became close... extremely close. Blush returning from the lack of space, Zim went to back up, trying to regain his personal space, yet his back was already pressed up against the rim of the container. Mentally cursing, he scanned Dib's expression for any clues to his sudden 'approach', yet it was difficult to understand, since the boy's eyes were closed...

Since Dib had fallen back into the water just then, it had caused his hair to become soaked, and drip slightly down his face. And, his scythe-lock, which usually stood so proudly, was now limply hanging down beside him... It somehow made the human look even more... attractive... Zim wasn't sure how, yet it did... especially remembering their situation at that moment in time.

Gulping silently as their faces met, the Irken so wished that Dib would open his eyes, yet he didn't...

"W-What are you talking abou-" Zim began, confused by the other's words, yet got cut off by the familiar feeling of tickling. His eyes widened yet again for a moment, before clamping shut as his laughter could be heard throughout the room.

"S-Stop it!" Zim yelled between laughs, whilst trying to get the hands away from him.

"Heh, well... I have to correct myself. YOU'RE the one who's laughing. A-And that's even better!"

Slowing down his hands a bit, Dib watched the other squirm around, trapped in his place. The previous awkwardness was gone for now.

"You're lucky I spare your feet, Zimmy," the boy giggled and successfully prevented the Irken's hands from getting in the way of his task by using one own arm. There, but, Zim's claws accidentally scratched against his skin. But Dib only flinched slightly at that and said nothing about it, knowing it wasn't Zim's fault.

"I really would stop and follow my owner's 'order'... hehe, b-but you're just too cute when you're laughing l-like that," he explained, really getting into a playful mood. Dib speeded up his fingers again and let them do their work on the Irken's torso, like two evil little spiders, weakening its victim. Now Dib was turning from chuckling to actual laugher himself. This moment was just too funny. Still, he managed to say: "M-Make me stop, Zimmy... a-and I will obey you a-again!"

Knowing that he had failed at stopping the other's hands from doing their 'job', Zim clenched his teeth together, quieting down his laughs slightly.

"O-Oh, Zim will make y-you stop, human... Y-You can b-be s-sure of that!" He growled through his teeth, before erupting in laughter once again.

Using one hand, he placed it in front of his mouth in an attempt to shut himself up, whilst the other hand was placed on Dib's chest, trying to push him away. Yet, from all the tickling, his arms felt like jelly, so was difficult to use much force.

Opening his eyes in a slight glare, Zim looked over the human's expression. Well, he could finally see the golden eyes which, at the moment, were full of -what could only be described as- victory. Plus, his laughter wasn't the only one that could be heard, since now Dib was also laughing.

"I-If you d-don't stop this second... I... I'll g-get out and l-leave you here..." Zim warned from behind his hand, obviously not meaning it, but had realized that maybe physical force may not work so well at the moment.

"...A-And send GIR d-down h-here too!" He added, almost as an afterthought.

It was quite interesting for the boy to watch how Zim couldn't control his laugher and moved around on the spot, futilely trying to escape his fate. Dib didn't know why he liked to watch the Irken every time he tickled him. Probably because it was so... unlike Zim, who was rather silent most of the time, keeping his emotions inside of him... Or maybe because Dib thought they both needed to laugh more often. Together. So they did, until he heard the Irken's next 'threat', after the feeble try of just pushing away, heh.

Dib slowed down his hands at that, so now they were merely rubbing against the other's sides. His laugher stopped and for a moment... he was stunned. The boy knew Zim wasn't serious, but decided to play along. A smug smile crept on his features and again, he brought his face veeeery close to the other's, brushing a strand of hair out of his face.

"Oh, you really would do that, huh?" He whispered and looked deep into Zim's wide ruby orbs. It was nice to startle the Irken like that. His whole attention on Dib...

"But if y-you would get out of the tub... I could see your... 'exposed' body, heh," the boy mumbled smugly and slowly trailed his hands upwards. "...And be sure that this time, I wouldn't close my eyes, Zimmy... s-since you're my mate and... very nice to look at... from what I saw..."

Now his hands rested neatly on the Irken's cheeks, covered in warm pinkish cleansing-goo.

"Even to have GIR around would be worth it, ya' know..."

In fact, he was slightly scared of that possible scenario. GIR, jumping into the tub, while Dib was being naked. But to be honest, he didn't mind that little robot so much anymore, or rather, got used to its sporadic presence.

"You see, Zimmy... either way, I win, heh."

In all honestly, Zim didn't know which he should be more 'scared' of... Dib's repeated closeness, or his words... Words which caused the blush on his face to go from mild, to full blast; and narrowed eyes, to wide ovals.

His hand still remained over his mouth, but no longer to prevent laughter, nope, his laughter had died down as soon as the human's face moved even the slightest bit closer. No, instead it was there to stop the other from seeing his gaping mouth, which had opened in shock and realization.

Well... now he was in trouble... Stuck between the container's edge, and an overly confident Dib... completely out of ideas.

Groaning in annoyance and mild thought, Zim lowered his hand once his expression had changed into an annoyed pout.

"N-No... No you don't w-win Dib-human! Zim shall n-not lose!" He announced, starting to throw a slight tantrum... something he was very good at. Kicking his legs slightly, Zim placed his hands on Dib's chest once again, and pushed, which was a lot easier now that he wasn't being tickled. He was able to move the other away a bit, but not by far.

Being pushed back along with demanding words changed Dib's attitude. Maybe it was a better idea to go not too far and instead calm Zim down now. No way was it Dib's intention to anger his Irken. For a moment, Dib glared at the other.

"W-Well, I do win and you want to know w-why?" His answer somehow sounded stubborn, wanting to explain things. Moving closer just a bit, he already smiled at Zim again and poked a finger between the Irken's narrowed eyes.

"I got you... as m-my mate." His finger lowered and trailed along Zim's lips.

"B-Besides, I never said you lost. It's more like... w-we both win, since we're... t-together." The boy didn't want to sound so serious, but such that words meant a lot to him.

Listening to Dib's first few words only made Zim's grumpy mood grow, since he was expecting to hear something self-confident follow after... Yet, it didn't. Eyes crossing so they could focus on the finger in the middle of his face, Zim's frown instantly softened at the words which actually followed.

"W-We... both win...?" Zim repeated in slight confusion. He'd never heard those words combined into one sentence before... It had always been that one person won, whilst the other lost. That had always been the way, so hearing that from the human was unexpected, to say the least, yet... somehow... needed.

"Heh... I-I like the sound of t-that..." He mumbled, smiling slightly at the other so Dib knew that he understood what he meant.

"J-Just, keep your fingers to y-yourself," Zim added, before sticking out his tongue for a moment to knock off the other's finger which was still on his lips.

Dib blushed at those words, which sounded odd, regarding what he did with Zim hours ago... and the small gesture that followed only made it 'worse', almost alluring for Dib.

Reluctantly, he moved his finger away, when thoughts entered his mind. Him, doing 'things' with Zim... touchy things! Ugh, why did that happen so often? Shaking his head slightly, the boy tried to stay where he was, not too near the other.

"D-Don't say s-stuff like that!" he pouted and crossed his arms to prevent them from grabbing at the Irken again.

"It m-makes me want to t-touch you even more... especially with that grin." Glancing down, he muttered. "And y-yes... we both win, in that way. But that doesn't mean we can't have a little 'contest' here and there."

Very much noticing the blush on Dib's face, Zim just sat there for a moment, wondering why. It didn't take long to get an explanation though.

"Oh... O-Okay..." He quickly replied, immediately loosing the smile he wore before. Zim hadn't actually been aware he had said something 'suggestive'... but, from Dib's reaction, he apparently had...

"Sorry," he mumbled, before tightly shutting his mouth closed in a neutral expression, not planning on saying anything for awhile. It seemed even the little things which he did without thinking caused the human's thoughts to expand in variety... Heh, kind of funny really, but also interesting... It seemed that Zim would have to be a bit more careful about what he says and does when in here with Dib. Especially after only this morning so many... 'things', had happened and been 'discovered'.

As soon as he heard that little 'sorry' from the other, Dib was aware that he, maybe, overreacted with his announcement. So he quickly crawled nearer to Zim, but stopped when he realized what he was doing. His arms froze in mid-air, before they slowly dropped again.

"No! Don't be sorry, Zim. Please... I-It's not your fault. L-Like I said before... it's... well, my brain which m-makes these pictures a-and thoughts..." He suddenly remembered that this wasn't the first time they were in such a situation.

"And s-since we're ... mates... it's only getting worse." Eyes widening slightly he waved his hands in front of Zim. "N-Not worse. No way, to be honest, I... I kind of like it w-when that happens. But... I s-see how embarrassed you get when I'm g-getting touchy b-because of these weird thoughts. And that... well, t-that makes me embarrassed too." He smiled nervously at the Irken, since he didn't fully understand his explanation himself.

"That's so strange, huh? I guess I AM crazy, in s-some way..." He mostly blamed his hormones for his behaviour. He cursed and loved his 'other' side, but accepted it. It was just a part of him. A part Zim actually woke up.

"Dib-pet isn't crazy!" Zim blurted, forgetting about his initial plans on not speaking for a bit. He just found it needed to be said, even if the other was joking. Kind of funny though, since only a week ago he would have said the exact opposite.

"A-And if it's your brain which is the issue, then i-it probably needs fixing..." He added. Looking towards Dib's forehead, Zim suddenly got an idea on how to change the 'seriousness' of the moment.

"_Yeah_... It could be possible y-you know... Would just have to c-cut here," he mumbled, pointing to the human's forehead, and drawing an imaginary line across it, smirking slightly.

"Then take out the organ..." Zim continued, using both his hands to pull out an imaginary brain. He knew that this joke would probably be considered 'mean'... as it sounded more of a death-threat than a tease. Well, he obviously didn't mean it... **NEVER** would he **ACTUALLY** do this!

"...Make adjustments, then pop it back in," he finished, reaching up and placing the 'brain' back in the other's skull... in reality he just gently tapped the top of Dib's head.

Looking back to the other, Zim's smirk got replaced by a thoughtful face as he spoke.

"But... that would probably turn you into one of those zombie-thingys... And Zim doesn't want a zombie as a pet!" Putting on a fake pout, he continued. "Looks like you're stuck with that brain, human... Since I like it... Even if it does make these 'pictures' and 'thoughts'." Zim concluded, nodding slightly.

He knew already that his attempt at flattery had failed... so, sighed slightly. "That didn't sound like it should have..."

When Zim practically yelled for Dib's defence, the boy flinched in surprise and already wanted to reply. But then, Zim spoke further, so Dib kept silent and listened. Maybe, he listened too much, because every word coming from his Irken's mouth made his body get more rigid. And when two clawed hands even went for his head, he wasn't able to move, so just watched them doing their 'operation'.

Dib really should have known that it was a joke. _A macabre one._ But something about the way Zim spoke... and his almost smug grin during it... quite scared the boy for these few moments.

It sounded so serious!

And Dib knew that his mate didn't really knew much of human anatomy, so probably thought it would be possible. To remove the brain and... make 'adjustments', before plugging it back... But Dib just sat there and gulped. Well, until he heard the other's last words. He relaxed slightly. But a small worry stayed.

"I don't wanna be a z-zombie, Zim!" He almost yelled, panicked. Out of instinct, he wanted to cling to the Irken, but at the last second, remembered that this was mainly the 'problem'. So he just kept his place right before the other.

"Y-You wouldn't try to m-mess with my brain, right?" For a moment, a slight trembling of his body was seen, before he threw all doubts away and lunged at his mate, hugging his waist tightly and hiding his face in that green neck.

"Zim... I-I may have my 'other' side, but... I don't wanna change a-anything about my brain. After all, I g-got these feelings for you, so it can't be a bad t-thing!" His voice was rather muffled due to his position, so he loosened his embrace a bit.

"...No more o-operations..."

Gasping at the sudden hug, Zim's eyes widened in shock at Dib's reaction to his previous words. Especially the last few which were heard, in an almost begging manner...

Suddenly the Irken felt the horrible dropping feeling; clearly guilt.

He had almost forgot about the operation that the human had to endure when he first arrived at the base... how much pain the other had been in during it too. Maybe that type of joke really wasn't the best to say around Dib after all...

"I-I...I didn't mean it, Dib-pet... I didn't think y-you'd reaction like this..."

Well, the meaning of his little joke had obviously been lost... it had meant to be a compliment... yet somehow turned in a horrible threat...

"A-And no... there will be n-no operations... It wasn't m-meant to sound the w-way it did... honestly... In a-all truth... i-it... it was meant to be a compliment... but, obviously that failed..." He mumbled whilst returning the hug, rubbing the human's back with one hand, trying to calm him down.

Zim was actually quite surprised at how strongly a few words could affect Dib... Even if it was a joke... a bad joke at that!

"A-Anyway... As I said... You're stuck with that brain... it's not g-going anywhere." Removing his hand from Dib's back, he instead brought it up to the other's head, to brush through his hair once again.

"Did you _really_ think I'd turn my mate into a zombie?" He questioned, imitating a hurt voice.

Dib responded with quiet agreeing noises and relaxed more at the feeling of rubbing hand on his back and with each phrase of the Irken. They mostly sounded like apologies to Dib. Soon he was sure that Zim never planned anything like that in the first place... and also felt somehow like a fool for believing it. And when he felt gentle combing claws on his head, Dib was already able to form a tiny smile again.

"F-For some moments, I somehow believed that, y-yes... You got odd ways t-to make compliments, ya' know?" He mumbled, but soon frowned after that.

"S-Sorry for thinking you... w-would do that to me. Of course you won't do it, any time!" At another attempt to explain himself, Dib leaned back and grabbed Zim's face with both hands, trying to look serious.

"Zim... it's j-just so... confusing! Yet, so f-familiar." Looking into those almost glowing red orbs, Dib's expression softened and he kinda realized something. Something he subconsciously knew for a while now.

"I-It seems that I'm... fatally attracted t-to you, Zim. Probably in a good AND a b-bad way..." His hands slid down to rest on the Irken's shoulders instead. "But from how it f-feels... it's mostly a good way. Very good..." The boy bowed his head and mumbled, rather quietly now. "...I know that I'm d-difficult and puzzling... quite often actually! A-And it's so hard to explain m-my feelings. Or what I think and why." The teen responded.

Zim was actually quite insulted at Dib thinking he would actually do such a thing to such a vital organ. But, also found it kind of funny in some way, yet that probably sounded out-of-line considering the mood of the conversation between the two of them wasn't exactly the joking type. Yet, it was true.

Zim was just about to complain about the 'odd' comment, when two warm hands were placed either side of his face. The expression which Dib had on was enough to cause any more teases which the Irken had been thinking of to die instantly. He just looked so... serious... Which was probably his intention, but it wasn't a sight he was used to just yet.

"Fatally attracted?" Zim repeated, slightly confused by the meaning of those combined words, but decided to let it pass. "Well, that's probably because your brai- mind is so complex," he said, deciding against using the word 'brain' for awhile...

"B-But, you don't have to explain too much... I can kind of g-guess, sometimes... Other times it's difficult to understand w-what's going on in that big head of yours, b-but... that's fine, isn't it? Not too much of a big deal... I-It just matters that you're happy... So BE happy Dib-pet... or I WILL mess with your head," Zim warned.

Stopping the hug and lowering his hair-brushing hand, he instead placed a finger from each hand either side of the human's mouth and gently pushed, so the corners of Dib's mouth raised into a forced smile. "Better!"

Dib grabbed that teasing hand away from his face, while a more natural smile appeared.

"No need to do that, s-since I AM happy. It's just... maybe I'm thinking too much. Over thinking everything." Well, who assumed that they could get such meaningful conversations and fun even during a 'cleansing process'? Sitting in a goo-filled tub touching each other and talking about feelings and weird thoughts... Yet, there they were, faces covered with the 'liquid'.

The boy moved the hand in his hand upwards and placed it neatly on his head. He sensed how that gesture, typical for Zim now, felt different, since now his hair was also covered in that pinkish gooey stuff. So before, Zim's claws felt more gliding, slick on his scalp. Not so 'scratchy' and direct like normally. Well, it was just... different. Anyhow, he liked that action pretty much.

So, he let go of Zim's hand and happily draped his arms around his Irken's waist, muttering "Y-You seem to really like my hair, heh. So... could you d-do that for a while, Zim? It's relaxing. M-Makes it easy for me to n-not think..."

"Heh... sure," Zim mumbled whilst gently combing through the other's hair. He liked doing this anyway, so didn't really need an excuse, yet it seemed he had one anyhow... And if it stopped Dib from thinking too much and worrying, then that was a positive added bonus. He was just happy that the human was smiling by himself again, without being forced.

"And yeah, I really do like your hair... it's... it's unique. Not like any other humans' which I've seen. And how it normally stands up like an antenna... it's pretty cool..." He admitted, lifting up the limp scythe-lock and holding it where it usually stands for a moment, before letting it drop again.

Chuckling slightly, Zim changed his gaze to meet Dib's one.

"Is that a better compliment, Dib-pet? Or is it still '_odd_'?" Maybe this was a more suitable 'human compliment', since this one didn't hold any threat and certainly wasn't considered as 'dark humour'.

At feeling the claw-to-head contact, Dib hummed contently, but still listened to the Irken. And when they looked at each other, the feeling only got better, so the boy's fell half-lidden.

"...Don't worry, Zim... It's a v-very nice compliment. Especially that 'antenna' part. Heh, o-only you could say that about my hair. Comparing it with an antenna..." Subconsciously, his gaze wandered up to the top of Zim's head, mumbling.

"Sometimes I... r-really wish I had one of those delicate feelers... L-Like you do. You can smell and hear with t-them, all at once. And..." Blushing slightly, he looked into the other's eyes again. "...Well, t-they're so s-sensitive. It's fascinating..."

Looking down again, he tried to shoo away new thoughts again and tried to concentrate on the water. Just now, he noticed that the 'liquid' wasn't that warm anymore. Still, he felt rather warm. From the inside. Being so close to Zim really kept him warm and comfy. For how long they'd sat in here? The boy got no idea and didn't want to leave too soon. But they would have to at some point. Oh well...

Slumping against his Irken and enjoying the stroking on his head, Dib stopped most of that thinking.

"I k-know you got your very own ways of... m-making compliments, Zimmy. I-I was just a b-bit scared before. Now I've learned to t-take them as you mean it."

Blushing slightly himself at the mention of his own antennae, Zim flattened them against his head slightly out of habit.

"S-Seems Irken compliments are different from human ones then..." He thought out loud, lowering one hand to return the hug, whilst the other remained on Dib's head to stroke through his damp hair. Strangely, this gesture, just making Dib calm, seemed to calm him down as well... Strange, but somehow... 'right'.

Smile increasing from the calmness between them both, Zim let out a slight content sigh, and began to just listen to the silence which settled around the room. Heh, and to think... he had actually threatened to leave to other alone in here. Thinking of which... Turning his head to look at his clothes which were folded neatly in the corner, then to Dib's clothes which had been practically thrown on the floor, he thought about how they were meant to get out without too much of an awkward moment reappearing... Well, one of them would just have to shut their eyes again, whilst the other got out... like they did getting in. Then get a towel each, then so on and so forth...

No point thinking about that now though, since it seemed Dib wasn't going to be too happy if he had to move, since he looked quite comfortable. Well, they both were.

"Well, I-I always just saw how different w-we were... B-But now, since the last few days, I know that we're just different on the outside... heh, quite different indeed." His hand glided slowly up and down Zim's back, before he rested them flatly on that strange PAK-thing, the part of it which poked out of the 'water'. It felt rather warm. Dib grinned to himself and continued.

"But y-you and I, Zim... are v-very much alike on the i-inside. O-Our emotions... and some part of our character... A-At least in m-my mind." Leaning back, Dib smiled warmly at the other and held Zim's face with both hands again, rubbing his thumbs under his favourite red eyes.

Right now, he didn't feel the need to say more, but decided to change his position. So Dib turned around and carefully slid down into the substance, until he was lying between Zim's legs, feet touching the far end of the container. His head rested neatly on the Irken's chest and came out of the goo's surface, just enough to have the mouth free.

"I h-hope I'm not making our moment... umm, awkward again," the boy muttered and looked up to his mate.

Smiling from the other's question, Zim shook his head slightly. "Not awkward in the slightest, Dib-pet..." He assured, before his expression turned into a thoughtful one.

"So... I'm similar to you?" He pondered out loud, looking up to the ceiling in thought.

If any other person had said that, he would have probably tore out their eyes, in the thought of it being an insult. Yet, since the person which had said it was Dib, his mate, it somehow sounded like it was... correct. And it probably was!

"I think I can live with knowing that," Zim concluded, smile returning.

Even though the other was already quite close to him, the Irken wrapped his arms around Dib's torso and pulled him closer.

"You look like a floating head," Zim simply stated, eyes glancing down to the human's damp, black hair.

It was quite funny really... because a week or so ago, they both considered each other as complete opposites. Not alike in the slightest... Yet, that seemed to have changed quite a bit. Now that Zim thought about it... it seemed quite logical that they became friends -_then eventually mates_- in the first place, if that was true... They were both just too caught up in hatred to see how similar they really were. Quite typical really...

Rolling his eyes to himself, he let out a sigh, before tightening the hug even more.

"...Still superior to you though," Zim quickly added, smirking.


End file.
